Michigan based Lineage Logistics operates 120 warehouses in 26 states in the US, and in four countries globally. It handled about 25% of the third-party cold chain in the US in 2017 – or 35 billion pounds of consumer packaged goods and fresh food, in facilities measure around one million square feet. Temperatures at most sites have to be at around zero degrees, but some go as low as -20 degrees making its electricity bill one of its biggest line items, reaching tens of millions of dollars per year.

Challenge

Its goal was to increase the food storage per square foot, while lowering its electricity usage at the same time. They needed some kind of a data-driven system, such as using IoT to give them the measures with which to drive efficiency.

Inputs

The company engaged solutions provider /ndustrial.io, which installed 3-15 smart meters per facility and sensors on top and bottom racks to the tune of 1,000 across its facilities to electricity readings at one-minute intervals. At first it tried the local Wi-Fi first but due to control and reliability issues, deployed AT&T’s LTE-M network and management platform provisioning everything with AT&T’s global SIMs.

Outputs

Heat maps of the facilities were produced, enabling Lineage to see food is kept at the proper temperatures. The combinations of IoT sensors and data analytics helped to improve performance in three area:

Outcomes

Reduction in Absolute Energy: The IoT system collects temperature and humidity data from shelves across it facilities, and causes chiller systems and frequency drives to kick in when the shelf readings are out of tune. Since 2014, annual energy costs have declined by 8% at the 78 warehouses and throughput has increased over the same period reducing the cost of electricity for each item of food by 34 per cent.

Peak Energy Reduction: Utilities charge a higher rate during peak times, and offer a reduction during off-peak. The sensor-and-analytics system, enables Lineage to super-cools its warehouses at night (off- peak), to create a virtual cold ‘battery’ for use during peak hours without compromising food safety. This not only reduce consumption by 2-3 MW but also yield savings from lower effective tariffs.

Blast freezing helps to preserve the cellular integrity of certain foods during the freezing process and is critical at different times of the year. Lineage and ndustrial.io developed a customized dashboard to track the process, and reduce the freeze time from 100 hours to 40 hours, and energy consumption by half.

Source: enterprise iot insights

The Company

Comboios De Portugal (CP) is the state-owned national railways operator. Over 100 million passengers travel with CP yearly. Every business day more than 1,450 train connections fulfil the mobility needs of Portuguese citizens.

The Challenge

The ticketing processes was mostly manual, this was not only time-consuming and prone to fraud but also prevented centralization and management of data, not to mention interoperation with other modes of transport. The transport sector in Portugal was becoming more and more competitive and there was a need to provide the best products with the best flexibility with compatibility with other services and transport companies in order to preserve market share and viability.

Input

Fujitsu, a computer systems company, was retained to equip CP with 325 ticket offices in 154 stations with new POS devices while also installing 165 automated kiosks, all of which connect securely to the network for real-time authentication. The system, which acts as the hub for the new smart card system, collects data from 21 applications to enable total visibility of transactions and minimize fraudulent activity.

Output

Passengers are now issued with CALYPSO RFID-enabled contactless cards that can be recharged at any of these locations as well as at ATMs. In addition, on-board conductors have PDAs which can validate and sell tickets.

Outcome

The new system is reducing fraud, minimizing the need for human intervention and allowing the company to work more closely with other transport agencies. At the same time, by automating much of the ticketing process, it is able to reduce the need for on-site personnel, lowering costs. Anyone with a smart card can take boats, buses, metro and the train using the same ticket, saving time and hassle. CP now has a robust, flexible ticketing infrastructure that can scale as the company grows.

Sources: Fujitsu

Michelin¹ is a global player in mobility and one of the leading tyre manufacturers across the globe. EFFIFUEL™ by Michelin Solutions was the first innovation in the market targeting increased efficiency in fleet fuel consumption.

Uniqueness

Michelin Solutions makes a contractual agreement to meet pre-defined targets, or otherwise provides a refund in proportion to excess expenses incurred. EFFIFUEL™ is a comprehensive ecosystem that includes sophisticated telematics, training in eco-driving techniques and the EFFITIRES™ optimized tyre management system. EFFIFUEL™ provides a “satisfaction or your money back guarantee” by providing the fuel efficiency service risk-free to truckers.

Approach

Michelin initiated the digital transformative business model internally, but they soon realized that in some critical areas, such as big data analytics or infrastructure they needed to partner with external experts.

 Sources: Michelin, WEF/Accenture Analysis

The Yield is an Australian agricultural technology company on a mission to transform food and farming practices by building secure, scalable digital technology to sense, analyse and predict on-farm growing conditions, and then deliver information in a usable format to help increase yield, reduce waste, mitigate the risk and cost associated with soil and weather and inputs. Partnering with Microsoft (Azure) and Bosch, Yield has received several innovation awards from Government and International organizations. Learn More..