INTERVIEW WITH BOX ID SYSTEMS

BOX ID Systems develops and provides end-to-end solutions to track millions of logistics assets throughout the industrial supply chain across Europe, digitally and cost-effectively – site-to-site, on company premises and inside buildings. Industrial and automotive manufacturing customers benefit from making their logistics processes more efficient and cost-optimized, with 100% visibility into their critical processes.

The BOX ID is a unique solution that includes a specialized cloud software platform, long-life sensory tracking devices and intelligent data analytics, device and user management tools to enable automation and process optimization.

Easy Engineering: What are the main areas of activity of the company?

BOX ID: Our main areas of activity are cloud software and IIoT technology development. The core of our product offering is the Box DI (Data Intelligence) software. As a cloud service, it is highly scalable and makes it possible to manage millions of mobile tracking devices, it is highly optimized to aggregate other sources of location data (e.g. Scanning Events) to provide complete visibility of real-world processes automatically. We work exclusively with top suppliers in terms of radio networks and embedded devices to ensure industrial standardization.

E.E: What’s the news for 2021 about new products?

BOX ID: Starting 2021 we also offer supporting services for projects above a certain minimum size. Together with our partners, we can offer following services:

  • Installation service: The efficient and professional installation of the tags can be offered by us as a service throughout Europe. This includes the development of an installation concept and a roll-out plan as well as the execution of the actual installation work.
  • Hardware-as-a-Service: In order to preserve liquidity, we can also provide with the hardware for an ongoing fee under certain conditions. This allows you to start your project without any investment costs (CAPEX) due at the beginning and to book all payments as operating expenses (OPEX).

E.E: What are the ranges of products?

BOX ID: We offer two models, depending on the size of the customer’s company:

End-to-end solution for small and medium-sized businesses and less than 50 thousand tracked assets. The Customer acquires the complete solution – BOX ID Cloud Service, LPWAN IoT network, devices and

Software as a Service (SaaS) for large companies and more than 50 thousand tracked assets. The Customer only licenses software service – REST API, BOX ID service directly linked to the company’s software.

Our goal is to provide the best tools for modeling and analysis. Modeling is done e.g. with customers, suppliers, inventory accounts, locations. Only in this way can the results also be used directly in ERP systems in the next step.

E.E: At what stage is the market where you are currently active?

BOX ID: The IIoT and digital data collection market is still in early phase of market acceptance. We think that with the development of wireless networking technologies, the emergence of advanced data analytics, a reduction in the cost of connected devices, and an increase in cloud platform adoption, the market will continue to grow at a positive rate.

E.E: What can you tell us about market trends?

BOX ID: We aim for the growing adoption of IIoT technology across industries such as logistics, manufacturing and automotive. Our system is an ideal approach to increasingly complex processes to improve efficiency and reduce downtime, greatly saving resources. In recent years, the price of mobile data transmission has been reduced by up to a factor of 100. Energy-efficient LPWAN radio networks enable mobile networked sensor devices that remain battery-powered in the field for up to 10 years. This means that mobile assets can now be located across countries for many years at a total cost starting at one euro per month.

E.E: What are the most innovative products marketed?

BOX ID: On the software side, we think the BOX ID Stock Keeping Tools are our most innovative feature so far, which is specifically designed for asset fleets that are shared across many participants. Examples include glass racks, special load carriers, and high-value pallets. Our software makes it possible to automatically track usage throughout each step of the process and makes it available for continuous monitoring. For this purpose, all participants in the supply chain can be modeled with logical inventory accounts and the flows can also be divided into full and empty load carriers. Postings from the ERP can be considered as well as asset movements generated from sensor data. Permanent inventory monitoring ensures that bottlenecks can be detected much earlier before there is a threat of the container supply being cut off.

E.E: What estimations do you have for 2021?

BOX ID: For 2021 we are aiming to extend our sales force and market communication. We will expand our midsize volume segment and speed up the development on analytics and AI. We are planning on bringing over 100.000 additional tracked smart assets to the market by the end of this year. To achieve this, many projects alongside important companies have already been started with successful proof of concepts and proof of technology evaluations.