FedEx launched SenseAware ID, a lightweight sensor-based logistics device that delivers precision tracking over Bluetooth. The enhanced location visibility is expected to create opportunities for FedEx customers to reimagine their supply chain through real-time updates on a package’s location within the FedEx Express network. SenseAware ID should improve the safety, security and timeliness of deliveries – key attributes for packages that contain critical contents such as pharmaceuticals and emergency medical supplies, the company said.
FedEx said it expects to use this new technology with anticipated Covid-19 vaccine shipments.
SenseAware ID uses a lightweight, compact sensor that transmits precise package location data every two seconds via Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) to Wi-Fi access points or established gateway devices throughout the FedEx Express network. Packages equipped with the SenseAware ID sensor are tracked hundreds of times versus dozens of times with traditional package scanning protocols, which provides an unprecedented amount of real-time data about the location of the shipment.
As part of the initial roll-out, SenseAware ID sensors are being applied to First Overnight shipments within the US domestic FedEx Express network. An initial round of customers in the healthcare, aerospace and retail industries will receive access to the enhanced data in November. FedEx expects to expand access to this precision location data to additional customers throughout the first half of 2021. SenseAware ID will eventually be made available for a broad range of premium FedEx Express services.
