A low-cost and disruptive supply chain optimisation and asset tracking system for new COVID-19 applications

Reusable packaging is becoming increasingly common across supply chains -- for example plastic boxes displaying fruit and vegetables in supermarkets. They are robust and can be reused many times, making them an environmentally-friendly solution.

These containers are easily lost in the complexity of most supply chains (left idle in warehouses, diverted elsewhere due to lack of space or damaged goods, wrongly filled with other items instead of being returned or being stolen). According to the 2015 Reusable Packaging Forum, 15-20% of reusable packaging goes missing, with numbers consistent across many industries -- that's approximately 1.4bn crates that are lost each year in Europe alone.

Sensize, working in partnership with Innovate UK, has developed a highly innovative system for monitoring supply chain assets worldwide using the latest IoT technology that can track packaging throughout its life-span (5-10-years) and provide information on its condition so that: Reusable packaging owners can control their valuable assets and ensure they are being used properly;

Stakeholders across the supply chain can identify weak links and mismanaged warehouses, improving efficiency and rotating stock more quickly; Stakeholders can avoid theft and damage (e.g. vaccines kept at the wrong temperature); Plastic waste from lost/abandoned packaging is minimised;

Food waste is reduced (according to BCG, widespread adoption of digital supply chain tools could reduce the problem by $120 billion annually); Costs can be reduced across the whole supply chain. Our solution has been deployed by customers in the UK and USA.

Covid has changed the supply chain in fundamental ways. It has created challenges for sure, but also new opportunities. Supermarkets need a way to keep track of the extra home deliveries they are doing. Vaccine shipments require cost effective tracking and temperature monitoring. The Sensize system is well placed to meet these new needs. This follow-on project will allow us to exploit the great progress we have already made and take full advantage of these new opportunities.

Incorporated in November 2016, Sensize Ltd is a Cambridge-based company dedicated to monitoring supply chains worldwide using the latest IoT technology. Reusable packaging objects are fitted with trackers that monitor location and the environment and send the data to the company's back-end system, hosted in the 'Cloud'. This generates actionable intelligence for supply chain users.

After timely delivery of our disruptive project, we will create 265 jobs and generate accumulated profits of £39million by 2027 (111x ROI on the Smart Grant).