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Are you a logistics provider or art supporter? How Track and Trace helps you to defeat graffiti

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For public infrastructure, removing graffiti costs millions of euro each year. Besides the direct costs, there are the costs of not using the equipment and environmental costs. And naturally, the trains, buses, metro, etc. are your visit card to customers.

The thrill of success

Sometimes, graffiti can look beautiful. But mostly, it looks -and is- vandalism.

Non-removal is an invitation to even more graffiti. Tests in New York have turned out that the immediate removal of graffiti, at least the same day, discourages further graffiti. Besides, the subway of New York is guarded closely, so it has become difficult for vandals to create their painting.

To create something beautiful is mostly not the aim of the sprayers. Most painters do it for the ‘thrill’. The first thrill is to finish their work before they are noticed. The other is to see their work travelling the next day, knowing it will travel the whole country. There are solo-sprayers. But mostly, sprayers work in groups. Actions are being planned, to out-smarten the (railway) police.

Nowadays, public transport companies have guidelines when graffiti is noticed: an employer (e.g. the train manager notices the painting, signs a cleaning company and this company cleans the graffiti the same day with a mobile team.

But as the saying goes: prevention is better than curing! How can you diminish the change of graffiti paintings? Track & Trace solutions help.

Know if someone enters your shunting yard unwanted

The shunting yard is a known spot for graffiti painters. At night, or just on the day itself because it’s easy to enter the premises.

Most marshal yards are guarded by security. However, because they are quiet places, it is rather easy to enter the site and hide from security. Besides, most graffiti painters operate in groups. So, they are practiced to paint a wagon in no-time.

The Dutch regional TV broadcast OogTV: “Meanwhile I know, also from stories that I hear from colleagues from the country, that such artists are unstoppable. We can make the gates so high, and the locks so wide, but if these people want to, they will succeed.”

How Tracy can help: perimeter and object guard

Track and trace can help preventing graffiti in 2 ways:

  • Perimeter detection
  • Object guard

Know if someone enters the marshal yard or any other perimeter. Act immediately on ‘strange’ behavior, such as: unidentified persons on the premises. Or persons at times when you expect nobody will be there. Another option is to guard the object itself, such as a train wagon itself with a sensor. An alert is being send when persons approach the object.

So, you can prevent graffiti to take place or at least, to prevent the painter from finishing his ‘artwork’.

Find out how we can help you: https://www.advsolned.com/tracy-home/

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Container thefts increasing; IOT Track and Trace helps

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Container thefts are increasingly common. “What should you do with such a thing?” headlines the newspaper article. Recently, the police found a number of containers that were once stolen. Tracy, the IOT track and trace device, can help you.

Why should someone want to steal a container?

So, why should someone want to steal a container? For an outsider, it might sound a bit strange. Customers see the container mostly as a kind of large, metal ‘box’ to dispose waste. For a container company, the hiring of the container means trust in your logistic solutions. But for a thief, a container means an easy to steal loot: it’s already packed and stands ready to pick-up!

Stealing is that simple: the scrap metal booty is already packed!

Stealing containers with scrap metal is especially popular. That does not have to mean that a container actually contains scrap metal or is completely full: the thief’s hope for loot is enough. Stealing a container is pretty simple: all the thief needs is a truck. He can put the container on the back with a cable or grab arm in no time. This theft means a major loss for companies: a container can easily cost 5 to 10 thousand euros, beside the eventual value of the cargo. And possibly the trust the customer has in you.

All that most companies do untill now is to share on social media camera images of their container or the truck that was stolen. Hoping to find the thief. Or at least to prevent a recurrence.

Tracy IoT helps: track and trace

• Perimeter detection

• Track and trace on container: Immediate theft signal

Perimeter detection

Tracy checks whether persons enter the site. When “strange” people enter the site, a signal is immediately triggered. Besides, Tracy monitors the movement of people and assets within the perimeter. Tracy uses Ultra Wide Band (UWB). One of the big advantages of UWB is its accuracy, so you know immediately where to look.

Track and trace on container: Immediate theft signal

When there are movements around a container, a signal goes off. If these are “strange”, for example at late times when nobody should be present, you can take immediate action. If the container is taken along anyway, it can be detected by the UWB signal.

Read more: https://www.advsolned.com/tracker-assets/

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Industry 4.0: Asset Track and Trace

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When considering an asset track and trace IoT application in a factory or warehouse, many think of the well-established Barcode or QR code. Although this technology is firmly embedded into modern society as a reliable, low cost and easy to understand pillar for tracking and tracing assets, many companies were quick to adopt the technology as an easy way of minimising human errors and increasing process efficiency.

However, when managing the location of thousands of assets, this simple system is somewhat limited in the overview that it can provide an ERP (enterprise requirements system) system. A significant aspect of Industry 4.0 is process transparency, providing the ERP and BI (business intelligence) systems with the most update-to-date information, allowing management to identify bottlenecks and potential areas of weakness.

Until several years ago, asset tracking was strengthened by combining RFID tags with GPS (global positioning system) technology. Although this was certainly a step in the right direction, the implementation costs were high and technology suffered from RF interference, short range and moderate location accuracy. GPS also had the big disadvantage of only being able to work outdoors and has a location accuracy of several metres – not really suitable!

Industry 4.0 real time location systems (RTLS)

Over the years, different technology has appeared as solution to providing real-time assets location information to the ERP system. As mentioned above, technologies, such as RFIDs, bar codes and GPS have certainly been a step in the right direction, but didn’t fully meet the requirements of modern businesses look to optimise their processes.

Ultrawide band (UWB) radar

With advances in radar technology over the last few years, a few silicon vendors are now producing affordable UWB radar devices suitable for trace and trace applications. Radar technology that used to cost thousands of Euros, and was primarily aimed a military technology, is now available for tens of Euros, making it viable candidate for track and trace applications.

UWB highlights

  • Ten times more accurate than GPS, Wi-Fi or Bluetooth with typical accuracies a good as 10cm.
  • Hundreds of metres range with data communication options.
  • Very low power and safe for humans – power emission typically a fraction of percent of a typical Wi-Fi router.
  • Licence free ISM band, meaning no complicated ETSI/FCC certification and lower implementation costs.
  • Penetrates walls and doors, making it ideal for warehouses and buildings.

Contemporary UWB based solutions finally allow for a true RTLS implementation, giving enterprises control over their personnel and assets. Whether tracking containers through a supply chain, optimising manufacturing processes, or providing asset traceability, an RTLS-UWB system provides an ERP system with real-time situation awareness that can be acted upon instantly.

Benefits for your enterprise

  • Inventory accuracy: achieve 99.9% inventory accuracy without the need for meticulous manual audits that can take hours or even days. An RTLS-UWB system provides you with all of your asset location information in real-time.
  • Live situation update: feed the ERP and BI systems with an accurate real-time picture of asset location and personnel trends.
  • Personnel safety: attaching tags to your employees helps track process efficiency and may also be used to alert personnel about entering dangerous areas. The tag locations are also invaluable in case of an emergency, such as fire, as the location of all personnel is known at all times.
  • e-paper and sensors: modern tags use e-paper technology to only display the most up-to-date information (e.g. QR code, sensor readings). Extra sensor information, such as temperature, humidity and vibration provide a simple way of establishing anti-tampering and asset health.

Advanced Solutions Nederland (ASN) BV is an international market leader in innovative IoT smart sensor and track and trace RTLS-UWB technological solutions.

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