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Customer Success Stories
Managing 8,000 roll containers across 50,000+ sales partners meant lost roll containers, underutilization, and constant inefficiencies. Discover how automated Bluetooth tracking delivered real-time fleet visibility and optimized logistics operations.
Challenge: Ampère, the logistics subsidiary of Bol, managed 8,000 roll containers circulating daily throughout the Netherlands but lacked visibility, leading to lost containers, underutilization, and inefficient logistics.
Solution: Sensolus Bluetooth tags on roll cages with automated detection via drivers' zebra scanners.
Results: Real-time fleet visibility, optimized container deployment based on utilization data, prevented loss and unauthorized use, and enabled more deliveries with the same resources.
Why Sensolus: Automated Bluetooth detection requiring no driver action, no GPS antenna needed, 4-year battery life, and simple implementation that Ampère could deploy largely independently.
Ampère, the logistics subsidiary of online retailer Bol, was looking for a solution to map the locations and traffic of its roll containers in its retail network. Through Sensolus, a specialist in managing assets, 8,000 rolling containers were equipped with a location tag that works via Bluetooth. The data and insights provided by these tags enable Ampère to optimize its fleet deployment and logistics processes. It also increases the reliability of deliveries while avoiding the costly loss or unauthorized use of roll containers.
In addition to goods from its own warehouses, the well-known online retailer Bol has been selling products directly from one of its more than 50,000 sales partners for several years. To manage the collection and delivery of those packages, often on the same day, Bol founded the start-up Ampère in 2022. Ampère strives to operate as sustainably as possible. It does so by combining smart technology with sustainable transportation.
In cooperation with its almost countless sales partners, Ampère provides them with roll containers. The partners fill those containers in the store with ordered products and are picked up once or twice daily by an Ampère driver who is responsible for delivery. That led to a challenge. “Bol’s success in recent years and the growth of its retail network also increased the number of roll containers circulating daily throughout the Netherlands for us,” testifies Niels Zandvliet, process designer at Ampère. “As a result, our logistics chain became increasingly complex and we lacked an overview. Roll containers were lost, fell into disuse, or simply were not used to their full potential, resulting in unnecessary purchase of new containers and inefficiencies in the logistics chain.”
- Niels Zandvliet, Process Designer Ampère
To meet this challenge, Ampère set out to find a suitable tracking technology and the right partner to implement it. The choice quickly fell on Ghent-based Sensolus, which specializes in asset management.
So far, some 8,000 roll containers have been equipped with compact location tags with Bluetooth. Those tags emit a signal on a regular basis that is automatically picked up by the zebra scanner on the driver’s smartphone. “That way, the driver does not have to perform any operations to register the different containers on board. Their signal is immediately picked up and the location is displayed in real time in the Sensolus platform. So we immediately see where all the roll containers are. Based on historical data, we see which containers are well utilized and which are not and can therefore be of service elsewhere. Those insights help us to optimize our fleet of containers and make more deliveries with the same resources,” Niels Zandvliet says.
- Niels Zandvliet, Process Designer Ampère
In addition, the solution offers significant financial benefits. The tags do not require a GPS antenna and with a four-year battery life, the battery also lasts a long time, allowing the roll containers to remain in rotation longer. The simple installation made it possible for Ampère to carry out the implementation largely independently. More than that, new roll containers are now equipped with a tag by the supplier, which is then entered into the system, making them immediately appear on the map when they are put into service by Ampère.
Ampère also uses the feature in Sensolus’ platform to set up geozones for locations at individual sales partners. “That feature allows them to monitor what roll containers can be found per location,” says Michiel Raat, business development manager at Sensolus. “This allows them respond quickly, maintain control of their fleet at all times, and makes it easier to detect unauthorized use.”
The partners are therefore considering new opportunities for the future. “This is the first time we have been able to deploy this Bluetooth tracking technology with fully automated detection on such a large scale, but there’s still a lot of potential. The movement of roll containers between Ampère’s sales partners is now well mapped, but we still see potential for their own warehouses. We are currently exploring the track together to also place a scanner there that picks up the signals from the tags, allowing Ampère to better see which containers go in and out there,” Michiel Raat says.
So the collaboration between Ampère and Sensolus is in full bloom. “I have only one word for this collaboration: legendary. The Sensolus team understands our needs perfectly and has continuously assisted us in the process. Sensolus even came to Utrecht to conduct on-site tests and verify that the roll containers were easily accessible. During the pilot phase, they were in close contact with us and further optimized their platform. This made the cooperation enormously valuable for both parties,” Niels Zandvliet concludes.
The TAG 2001 is a rugged location tag designed for long-term asset tracking in harsh outdoor and industrial environments, connecting via Bluetooth to nearby smart gateways with long battery life.
The zebra scanner on a driver’s smartphone acts as a smart gateway, automatically detecting Bluetooth signals from nearby location tags and transmitting their data to the Sensolus platform without requiring manual scanning.
Cloud-based tracking platform with open API integration that delivers real-time asset visibility and location data directly into your existing business systems.
We are experts: ask us anything, from the battery in the tracker to inventory reports and asset journeys.
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