Junction 4 Pallets has created an innovative packaging traceability solution in collaboration with Tracworx, an Irish technology firm created by Chris Kelly, Fionn Barron and Eoin O’Brien.
The solution has been designed to manage Returnable Transport Items (RTIs) fully, allowing you to optimise your operations, drive turnaround times, manage repairs and maintenance and protect J4 customers from the theft of high value items in transit. The innovation also allows customers to measure their Reusable Plastic Containers (RPC) inventory at any given time from anywhere in the world, providing greater accuracy, more visibility and reduced admin time.
This asset management solution is powered through Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags. These tags act as digital passports for assets providing a chain of custody. They are used commonly in supermarkets, vehicles and food production amongst many other things. RFID tags send metadata and reporting data through to a cloud-based server via satellite trackers installed strategically at points along the supply chain.
Tracworx CEO, Chris Kelly, says that the tech firm started out working with hospitals in Ireland and the UK:
“Tracworx started in 2016. At the time, it was patient tracking, we were focused on hospitals and managing the flow of patients, helping hospitals optimise operating theatres.”
In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic began, and Tracworx were forced to adapt.
Chris Kelly says:
“We started working with Apple TV and other companies like Reagecon. Initially, it was just tracking contacts for COVID.
“Out of that, we then realised there’s a bigger supply chain opportunity we should go after.”
Speaking on the collaborative solution with Junction 4 Pallets, Kelly says:
“At Tracworx, we manage returnable transport items, essentially providing a system for customers to manage those assets digitally. We place smart tags on assets and turn them from being silent pieces of equipment to pieces of equipment that give back data.
“We’re working with a fresh food supplier in terms of supplying pallets. The challenge is pool management, being able to move away from single-use pallets and allowing the company to own their own pool of pallets.
“So not only are you getting your own pallet, but you can now manage that digitally as well by being able to know who you gave it to, how many returns it has done and when it was last maintained, extracting value from your supply chain”
Junction 4 Pallets’ expert in returnable packaging and reverse supply chains, Steve Raybould, who has worked closely with Tracworx to deliver an RPC tracking solution, says:
“Combining the skill sets of Tracworx and Junction4 Pallets is a ‘no-brainer’. Working closely together on projects, we jointly bring real synergies to customer supply chains using technology. Tracworx provides a full, end-to-end solution (tags, readers, software, systems and data interrogation); which when combined with the traditional equipment management expertise of J4 (manufacturing, transport, equipment repair, sortation and inspection) gives customers a truly connected supply chain for loose equipment and the products they carry. This combined approach allows informed choices to be made, optimises equipment usage through better, more timely data. In the end, the equipment works harder and maximises the original capex investment in the equipment, reducing costs and promoting circularity.”
If you would like to learn more about our innovative asset traceability solutions, please get in touch today and contact us.