Sigfox, provider of connectivity for the Internet of Things (IoT), announced Thursday a global partnership with Alizent, the Asset Interactive Company, to maximize benefits of IoT on industries across all sectors. The two partners, seeing Industry 4.0 as one of the main growth paths driving the development of IoT, will combine their respective technologies and capabilities to provide monitoring and tracking solutions of industrial assets on a global basis.
Sigfox and Alizent are working on exploring opportunities in Europe and the US. The two partners believe that combining Sigfox’s connectivity offering with Alizent’s knowledge of industrial customers will bring value proposal to verticals such as oil and gas, primary metals, manufacturing, healthcare, food & beverage, agriculture, chemical and pharmaceuticals.
Alizent’s tracking solution combined with Sigfox connectivity in this pilot allows to collect accurate data from the fleet of returnable containers. This information offers valuable insights on the value chain and at the same time allows to provide real-time inventories to customers. With the support of Alizent, it is also considered to monitor the CO2 mini-tanks that are also used by fast food chains for soda.
Animal health vaccines contain active bio-ingredients that must be transported with great care and under specific conditions. Not keeping vaccines at the appropriate temperature would tamper with the quality which, in turn, would result in a large number of animals not receiving the proper vaccinations. With Sigfox connectivity, Alizent is currently testing a tracking system in the United States that reports container data. These metrics are essential for quality control and traceability, leading to greater efficiencies and new services.
Large hospitals have the complex task to track portable oxygen cylinders for inventory control and billing purposes. Tracking devices installed in 300 Oxygen cylinders in one of the largest hospitals in the Texas medical technology area have during the pilot phase significantly reduced cylinder losses and rental fees for customers while optimizing the supply chain.
Beer brewers seek to maintain a correct temperature for draft beer or cider, a paramount for customer’s satisfaction. Alizent’s predictive maintenance solution combined with Sigfox connectivity allows beer brewers to monitor beer coolers and dispensers temperature. This solution prevents breakdowns, expensive repairs, waste of time and money, leading to sales loss.
“We believe that connecting all industrial assets will generate valuable data for our customers,” said Alexis Duret, Managing Director, Alizent. “Sigfox, through its unique technology and global network services, support and pricing, combined with Alizent proven ability and rare mix of industrial and technological skills, enables the connection of a whole new range of industrial assets for our clients.”
“This partnership with Alizent once again illustrates that the IoT space opens up new and exciting opportunities for industries,” said Vincent Sabot, Sigfox’s VP Sales for Europe. “Sigfox’s low-cost and low-power connectivity represents a dramatic shift for companies looking to reduce their costs and improve their industrial processes, as well as create new services based on big data.”
