MOST- monitoring via the cloud
Monitoring device to lower waste by increasing control
Developed in just under 12 months, Swedish company MOST saw the need for a real time monitoring service after speaking with a major South African grower and exporter. Frustrated, the SA company felt like there was a big gap between the time they would pack their goods and send them on their way, with no control when things went wrong, which led to big losses.
“Once we started to look at the amounts of losses of fruit and veg during transit. We felt that if they were able to have more control with a real time device, they would have the opportunity to be proactive in business decisions and towards stakeholders as importers, end customers, insurance companies, etc.” said CEO Love Bergsten.
The company has been met with excitement and have received financial backing, not only from people in the fruit and vegetable industry (exporters, forwarders, importers, growers), but are also backed by successful tech entrepreneurs who saw the opportunities that this type of monitoring could bring.
Automatic updates
Just like a mobile phone, the software updates automatically, to ensure that the user has the most recent version available. This is a free service so customers can always experience the best features and information.
Once the perimeters for MOST are set, the device just needs to be placed into the shipper pack and it can measure location, temperature, humidity, light and shock with the push of a button. After that, it automatically starts transmitting a signal and users can log into the website with their own particular log in and reference number and all involved can follow the goods all the way to the end destination. This device is approximately 10cm in diameter and 5cm high and battery powered.
The MOST device, approximately 10cm in diameter and 5cm in height.
“The battery and signal were two of the main issues that we really looked into during development, that we met the needs of our potential customers. The battery is chargeable and we guaranty 65 days, even though we have had other devices out for longer. We also focused on making sure that the signal is able to transmit at all times, regardless of its location. We find sustainability important as well, and encourage our customers to send the device back to us after they have been used so they can be reused.” said Bergsten.
Promotion in UK and Ireland
Frank Kinsella from FMK Consulting, a former UK importer promoting the device in the UK and Ireland, said that he plans on talking to retailers and other interested parties in the whole supply chain to generate interest and present it as another, better way of monitoring products coming into the country which can have an impact on the quality chain, which translates into a longer shelf life.
"The UK imports more than it exports and after speaking with selected exporters in Greece, Turkey and Peru, all involved saw the potential. We also did a recent trial with Zeus, one of the premier kiwi exporters from Greece and their transport company was very impressed with it. I think that the groups most interested will be growers, shippers, insurance companies and importers." shared Kinsella.
"As things are now, if you have, for example, a container arriving after 20 days at sea, or a truck arriving from Turkey, you can only see on arrival that the goods are damaged. With real time surveillance, it is possible to prevent these situations so exporters have the ability to go ahead and send out a replacement shipment when they see that things have gone wrong with the quality of the product."
Frank shared that he thinks that they have yet to find out the full extent of benefits in these early stages. There are many future possibilities for MOST and after speaking extensively with other major players in the industry, future possibilities that have been mentioned include greenhouses and long term storage, amongst others.
"We are a tech company (IOT) and we are here to solve an issue. We want to help oUr customers gain control, and give the growers and other parties the opportunity to be more proactive and create transparency in the supply chain for all involved. From our side, we are really focused on providing a product and service that is easy to use and the potential we see in this industry, with all the different ways we can develop the product, this is just the beginning of what we are able to do for the customers out there. We still have a long way to go.” Bergsten concluded.
For more information:
Love Bergsten
MOVE
Tel: +46 (0) 761 00 16 04
Email: info@mobsentech.com
mobsentech.com