Member Info for Nig1954

Whilst on this theme, the following article caught my eye.
You may be interested in the following link. They're the largest freight carrier in Poland. Their intention is to become the leading logistics operator on international trade routes North-South including the Great Silk Road.
They're expecting a large investment in Polish ports which will see a significant expansion in container terminals and trans-shipment. Their aim is to make Poland a logistics hub for Europe and they're heavily investing in anticipation of the New Silk Road initiative.
They're investing heavily in new rolling stock and see Logistics as their means of achieving new Revenue streams. https://bit.ly/3mAJpCF

It's previously been mentioned that Lokies are one of the approved forms of electronic seal so it may have some impact on them. The following reference to Lokies in the Annual Report could possibly be referring to this : Lokies

The Company's intelligent keyless padlock, branded as Lokies, was successfully launched in 2019 and well received by customers. It had been anticipated that significant orders would follow based on the positive interest shown, however these orders were not progressed as hoped in 2020. However, we still anticipate that these orders will be resumed later this year.

Russian Railways (RDZ) have announced that the freight transportation and logistics centre was less affected by the pandemic. Accelerated dynamics have been observed in a number of fields and forms of transportation specifically in relation to transit container transportation.
Amongst other things this has been facilitated by electronic navigation seals. The INTERTRAN information technology has been installed at all stations of Russian Railways that are receiving containers.
Work is underway to expand the geography of the CIM/SMGS electronic consignment note. Russian Railways, together with Finnish partners, is also exploring the possibilities of using this technology in transit traffic to China. As part of the development of electronic data exchange, including with Finnish regulatory authorities, the time spent on border and customs formalities has been significantly reduced by switching to electronic documents.

I was perhaps a little too loose with my choice of wording but blockchains can still apply in relation to the functions performed by Starcom.
The asset tracking market has witnessed substantial economies of scale improvements in recent years due to inexpensive connectivity and Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communications equipment and services. The advent of advanced Internet of Things (IoT) solutions leveraging M2M and other supporting technologies enables anytime, anywhere, any type of asset tracking. In addition, advancements in miniaturization and communications have made lower value asset tracking more practical, expanding the range of potential industries and asset types.
Integration and operation of blockchain technology will redefine how various industries operate, dramatically improving efficiencies, and reduce the cost of doing business. One important example is IoT, which is a very promising area as it is anticipated that the use of blockchain in IoT networks/systems will be one of the key means for authenticating and authorizing transactions.
Satellite communications and applications are clear. Satellites provide coverage in areas where terrestrial wireless cannot. In fact, land-based wireless only covers roughly 10% of the globe. Certain verticals, such as the maritime industry, require global coverage.
The asset management industry requires satellite systems for coverage in support of fleet tracking, supply chain management, and general asset tracking needs. The IoT solutions leveraging machine to machine communications and other supporting technologies enables anytime, anywhere, any type of asset tracking. Satellites provide seamless M2M communications for the asset tracking market.

I think the major issue here is that the transport and logistics industry has been plagued with decades old legacy IT systems which weren't traditionally used to provide insights into their fleet operations but rather to enable core business processes.
As the IT landscape has evolved, a new set of digital technologies and solutions based on the Internet of Things (IoT) has emerged, aiming to bring new efficiencies to the bottom line and potentially expand the top line. These solutions bring a paradigm of connectivity into the business, and enable the integration of people, fleets and processes into a single point of view, paving the way for transport companies to obtain valuable business insights. By adopting IoT-based solutions,
additional operational insights into the enterprise can be gained by integrating these solutions with existing enterprise IT applications.
As a result, further optimizations and efficiencies can be achieved and new business models or revenue streams can be developed.However, are transport companies aware of these opportunities, and how far along the road of innovation are they when it comes to moving forward with IoT?
In the short term businesses are expected to move beyond simply improving the efficiency of vehicles to enable greater efficiency of the workforce as well. The combined data from connected vehicles,connected employees, connected spaces (e.g. airports and stations) and external data such as weather data will enable transport companies to predict demand and optimize their internal operations accordingly. It is expected there'll be more innovation both on the sell
side and the buy side of the IoT market. There are already some promising examples of innovation picking up, especially in collaboration with startups.
In the long term, it is envisaged there'll be a more radical transformation of the landscape in which transport companies could become technology providers to other transport players, even their competitors. This has happened before with general IT in the transport industry, but also with IoT applications in other industries. Still, the pace at which these developments take place in the transport sector will largely depend on the strategic vision of boardrooms as well as
the ability of the vendor community to offer compelling and revolutionary value proposition. In summary, competition will become a reality in IoT and Starcom needs to "beef up" it's Sales and Distribution functions.
The recent problems afflicting global supply chains has brought this to a head and many of the larger players admit they'll spend significantly to try and gain first mover advantage. Tax breaks such as those recently announced by the CoE will make investment a very tax friendly environment for the next couple of years and companies such as Starcom should benefit.

This is where Starcom's technology can come into it's own as all aspects of the transportation process are fully recorded and there's full transparency. It's stand alone GPS tracker and management system, perfect for asset management, monitoring, and tracking. Kylos devices do not require any installation and provide essential information – including location, velocity, temperature, impact and light exposure.

Thanks to their ease of use Kylos units are the perfect solution for tracking of goods, pets, and other assets, and can also be used as a personal GPS tracker. Kylos units offer a full management solution when used with our mobile and online applications and can be combined with other Starcom products for multi-layer security.

This is blockchain technology which is what they're crying out for and it's not particularly expensive. Hard negotiations with their Insurance Broker may mean that the savings in insurance premiums will go a long way towards covering the investment cost

https://bit.ly/3dJPxVb

https://lnkd.in/euN22ZQ

The above highlights the potential savings that can be made as pump prices begin to increase. A couple of HelioAdvanced Units shows that this investment pays for itself many times over

We were having conversation with one of our recently acquired customers and they were very happy that their fuel expenditure has gone down for the past 15 days by 40%! That's not all.....

They even told us one of their vehicle also moved from Kisumu to Narok without them being asked to send money for additional fuel for the first time ever!!!! What used to happen before is that the driver will ask to be sent money for fuel even before the vehicle gets to Narok saying the vehicle has ran out of fuel!

Another truck in their fleet was a problem to them as it used to add fuel when they didn't even authorize or send money for fuel to be added. So they doubted whether the solution for that vehicle is working well like the others. Good thing is the system used to record all the refilling that took place.
We got hold of that truck and drained the fuel - what was inside the truck was not "fuel" ??.....(this is a story for another day).

We've had challenges and instances where our tracking units and wiring have been interfered with so that they discredit the solution.

We've had instances where we removed fuel, checked what the system/our solution was saying, added from two different fuel dispensers/pumps, checked our solution and passed the tests.

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https://twitter.com/JackAkello/status/1379832744679776259

AT today's UK prices that roughly equates to £28000. As fuel prices rise the potential savings will increase.For the average user of this type of technology the immediate cost savings will substantially exceed the cost of investment making this a no-brainer decision #Helios

https://bit.ly/3cTjinl

https://bit.ly/3cTjinl

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/itrackindia_report-tracks-rise-in-cargo-theft-from-storage-activity-6784708378284367872-G2jC

https://bit.ly/3moLr8Z

Shippers are apparently seeking a single supply chain software solution, whether it be from a software or logistics provider, that gives them visibility to everything that’s moving, irrespective of who is moving it.
Their problem is solved not through buying a single suite of logistics software, but by improving data accuracy and interoperability to enable disparate systems to more easily connect with one another.
Mature shippers, operate out of a single, monolithic system and build a lattice of customizations on top of it as their needs grow increasingly complex. Ultimately, this becomes really cumbersome and costly to maintain while keeping pace with the innovation more broadly happening in the space.
Emerging shippers, tend to use a hotchpot of point solutions. But it becomes difficult for these systems to talk with each other as they scale. In both cases, they run into problems with data integrity and interoperability.
For high-growth brands, this transition is relatively abrupt and extremely costly, This dynamic is reminiscent of how other domain-specific software categories have evolved, and there is tremendous opportunity for players that can bring better interoperability and scalability to bridge the gap the way Salesforce has for sales and marketing teams. Logistics, and supply chain in general, are entering a new era, called the “SaaS-ification of supply chain,” meaning the industry will become more dependent on niche software-as-a-service (SaaS) tools that can be easily connected with one another.Standardized integration between systems and data warehousing creates more opportunities for point solutions providers and enables shippers to get more benefit from their IT spend.
This has the potential to unleash a tidal wave of supply chain innovation by enabling shippers to leverage as many point solutions as they want without heavy integration or interoperability issues,. It could also make it easier to adopt point solutions, even for just a small segment of user and customer needs.
For larger shippers, there is often a bigger issue at play. Any decision to move to a single suite of logistics software is dictated by their company’s broader set of supply chain software, which generally starts with its ERP system or systems. There is great interest in cloud-based ‘edge’ solutions.
Some Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) such as Starcom are innovating in this space by taking a reference-architecture or modular approach to device design for personalized solutions. Others are going to market with off-the-shelf or vertically-focused devices for quickly scalable deployments .

There is currently a lack of transparency regarding the impact this will have on Starcom but it should at least be seen in a positive light. Anything that may help persuade farmers to adopt Ag Tech farming technology has to be seen as ultimately beneficial to Starcom's finances.
We know their sensors are embedded within CropX tech and this benefits our SaaS income stream. The recent Annual Report made reference to "We have also used the time to upgrade the entire structure of Starcom Online - our SaaS platform - and brought it up to date in both the software and underlying backbone. We have also integrated various third-party tracking units to allow easy transitions for customers from other companies to Starcom".
It's quite feasible that some of this upgrading was in anticipation of the expected benefits that may flow from the CropX/NASA agreement. I'm therefore prepared to view this from a favourable disposition.

An Israeli perspective on the arrangement between NASA and CropX https://bit.ly/3vZyzuB

In the 2019 Interim June 2019 accounts we were informed that Starcom had received an initial order from Israel Chemicals Ltd(ICL) for Kylos Forever Units and that these were expected to increase in the near future. On 24th March 2021 ICL paid $402Million for Compass Minerals, a leading Brazilian company. They are the Brazilian leaders in plant nutrition and simulation, soil and seed treatment and plant health. This business has a presence in 25 out of 26 Brazilian states and directly or indirectly serves 32000 farms.
ICL's aim is to accelerate their progress in long term global leadership in their innovative AG Solutions division. This seems to be a good fit with CropX offerings and following their recent link up with NASA could potentially lead to a very favourable financial opportunity for all participants involved in this venture. https://bit.ly/3w62MIo

Over $29Billion worth of cargo stranded in the #SuezCanal,as of last Friday. How many companies haven't taken adequate precautions and have NO idea where their cargo/goods are currently situated. Use sophisticated tracking and monitoring technologies such as Tetis,and Kylos to help improve Supply Chains

Suez Canal incident typifies how reliant we remain on analogue systems to keep global trade functioning.This is the 21st Century, the age of hi tech and IoT. About time national governments recognised this and embraced technological advancements to their financial benefit

This incident is going to cost a lot of companies a small fortune. It will place a burden on national economies. How significant an impact is this going to have on markets? This illustrates our vulnerabilities. Wake up HMG before it is too late. Embrace new technologies.