Digital Transparency on the Construction Site: Max Bögl Relies on IoT Tracking from Sensolus and Alps Alpine

The core of the solution is an energy-efficient GPS tracker for non-powered load carriers, which is based on the NarrowBand IoT (NB-IoT) mobile communication standard and has a battery life of up to ten years. Tracking is encrypted and reliable, even in remote areas. Robustness and depth of integration were central requirements from the very beginning.

The introduction began in the area of high-value inloader pallets. These are central and costly transport carriers that are frequently used on changing construction sites. Until now, their whereabouts could only be traced manually. This meant: high time expenditure, incomplete documentation and laborious follow-up inquiries by telephone.

Ramona Gruber, responsible for Application Support & Development Logistics at Max Bögl, initiated the search for a tracking solution that combines automation, robustness and seamless process integration. The decisive impulse came at LogiMAT 2023 – the beginning of the partnership with Alps Alpine and Sensolus. Today, over 350 inloader pallets are equipped with trackers. The result: improved utilization, complete traceability and increased protection against theft.

The positive experiences quickly led to scaling into other business areas. Over 800 trackers are in use today in the wind energy sector: Special transport frames for wind turbine components are tracked during the construction process. After unloading, the frame is folded up. A tilt sensor integrated in the tracker detects this automatically and reports the changed status to the system. Construction site logistics can thus efficiently plan the return transport of empty frames and quickly release storage areas.

In the energy corridor sector as well, around 100 trackers are in use on the kilometre-long line construction sites for electricity from renewable sources. Here they support the localization of machines, material containers or machine attachments and significantly reduce the search and coordination effort on the extensive construction sites.

Another tracker contingent is used flexibly for temporarily deployed assets, such as prefabricated elements, rental equipment or construction machinery. Mounted on a project basis and reused after project completion, they create maximum flexibility while maintaining high transparency.

On the software side as well, the tracking platform impresses with its versatility: Depending on requirements, business units either access the cloud solution directly or integrate the tracking data via an API into existing systems, such as an internal geographic information system (GIS). The precise definition of geozones as well as the mapping of individual workflows and dashboards enable well-founded decisions in real time. Through the modular architecture of the platform, future use cases can also be integrated.

In addition to technical excellence, what particularly impressed were the long battery life, high robustness (IP 69, IK9) and network coverage even in difficult environments. The “Tracking-as-a-Service” model (TaaS), consisting of hardware, cloud platform and service, fits ideally into Max Bögl’s digital strategy. It enables the implementation of customized solutions for a wide variety of use cases.

What particularly distinguishes the partnership: reliability, innovative strength and a common goal.

Today, over 1,250 trackers are in daily use at Max Bögl – with an upward trend. New application areas are already being tested. The collaboration shows: Digital transparency is not only possible, but brings real added value in the areas of efficiency, quality and controllability of construction processes.