Global shipping and logistics leader uses GSID Location for supply chain success

Challenge

A globally recognized leader in transportation, e-commerce, and business services, this company has more than 300,000 team members worldwide. They offer customers a service for tracking shipments worldwide across all stages of the supply chain lifecycle. The service features multi-sensor devices with advanced wireless communications software systems to collect and report real-time GPS and sensor-based logistics data from assets located within packages, trailers, pallets, and warehouses.

Many supply chain systems still rely on manual tracking methods or outdated technology that doesn’t provide real-time visibility. Information is also often fragmented across different systems, making it difficult to get a complete picture of a shipment’s location. Shipments often change hands multiple times during transit, increasing the complexity of tracking. When operating globally, international shipments involve the added challenges of customs clearance, border crossings, and different transportation modes, making it harder to monitor their progress.

While GPS works well, it has limitations. GPS is not always available because its signal can be blocked when shipments are stored within ships, cargo containers, or warehouses—or in the case of adverse environmental, electronic, or physical elements obstructing a signal’s pathway, whether done intentionally or not. For untethered devices, GPS receiver operation can also drain battery life, especially in the event of transit delays or other supply chain disruptions. The company’s supply chain visibility service division needed a backup location service when GPS was unavailable.

Solution

The global shipping and logistics company selected Locance’s Global Site Identity (GSID) Location solution to provide location intelligence when GPS is unavailable. With GSID Location, the company’s visibility service division greatly expanded the total number of devices it is able to locate—and the global reach of its tracking grew exponentially. The API covers more than 220 countries globally, and can locate any device using Wi-Fi, LTE, 5G, NB-IoT, WCDMA (UMTS), GSM, or CDMA wireless networks.

The benefits

Locance GSID Location advantages

• Multi-source connectivity: Compatible with devices using Wi-Fi, LTE, 5G, NB-IoT, WCDMA (UMTS), or CDMA networks, ensuring seamless operation across various communication technologies.
• Backup when GPS is not available
• Locate devices while roaming
• Seamless cycling between GPS and GSID Location to maximize battery life
• Over 300 million cell site IDs
• Over 4.5 billion Wi-Fi access point IDs
• Global service spanning 200+ countries

The results

With Locance’s GSID Location, our client has a multi-layered solution to ensure its customers receive reliable location intelligence even when GPS data is unavailable. This combination of location technologies allows the company to provide a consistent level of service throughout the supply chain lifecycle and it can also help eliminate operational or service-related expenses.

“Our integration was seamless and one of the easiest I’ve had to do. Locance’s APIs are up-to-date and provide highly accurate location details and excellent customer service. We truly appreciate their commitment to our success.”

Chris S., Product Manager

Locance^® is the global leader in cloud-based location services for connected devices. We provide the easiest and most comprehensive multi-source location-as-a-service platform for developing location-based and context-aware applications — without the need for special software or app installations.

Our core location services work seamlessly indoors and outdoors across devices, platforms, and networks. Serving Fortune 500 enterprises and start-ups alike, Locance is revolutionizing the way companies do business. With the broadest reach and largest global footprint, our geolocation solutions deliver unparalleled performance for M2M and IoT devices.