17 winners of the global IoT project of the year award were announced on September 30. The competition was held for the second time and even on a larger scale.
IoT project of the year is the world's only competition for telematics and IoT solutions that was first held by Gurtam last year. Its idea is to demonstrate the incredible development pace of the Internet of Things and telematics. To show how original, innovative, and sometimes extraordinary projects change not only a specific business but also different spheres of life – from offering personal safety to solving environmental problems.
Aliaksandr Kuushynau, Head of Wialon, Gurtam
“I can definitely say: the era of basic GPS tracking is gone. Basic vehicle monitoring, which we sold well yesterday, has become the new normal today. The possibilities and potential of telematics and IoT are much broader and can be used in any business to optimize processes, reduce costs and remarkably stand out in the market. IoT project of the year showed that one of the main global requests from businesses is not just showing vehicles on a map but creating the system that automates all processes at the enterprise level. That’s the future,” said Aliaksandr Kuushynau, Head of Wialon, Gurtam.
It turned out to be a daunting task to assess all the projects this year. The number of applications approached a hundred; they came from different parts of the world, some companies even submitted several projects in different nominations. The competition became truly global: any IoT integrator from any country and with any solution could participate. And most importantly, 2021 provided a vast number of astonishing projects.
Dmitry Posadski, Head of Implementation Team (Russia & CIS), Gurtam
“The most popular nominations this year were: public transport, cold chain transportation, long-haul shipping, agriculture, and stationary objects. IoT technologies are most demanded in these areas – 60% of all participating projects have been implemented within these ones.
But there is a chance that the situation will change next year. The IoT project of the year competition was created to promote the development of telematics and the Internet of Things industry to help businesses from a variety of spheres to consider the opportunities provided by technologies. If you have been working in a single area for many years, it makes sense to spy on what they are doing in other industries and take practical ideas and inspiration from there – and it is concentrated in the solutions of IoT project of the year participants,” said the Jury Chairman, Head of the Wialon Implementation Team, Dmitry Posadski.
The companies that won managed to create the most functional solutions, implement non-standard ideas using telematics and IoT technologies.
Here they are, the winners of IoT project of the year 2021.
Long-haul shipping
Tetron (Russia)
Project: The platform for organizing road transportationTetron developed a unified platform for organizing road transportation. This solution united drivers, dispatchers, customers, and contractors and also automated many work processes. As a result, transportation quality control improved, and costs were reduced. For example, the load only on dispatchers decreased by 40% due to digitalization. The work control system provided 10% savings for the client.
The solution was created for Grupo Bafar, the Mexican food manufacturer and distributor. It aimed to address the issue of cold chain monitoring while delivering to retail stores. If earlier Bafar suffered losses of $200,000 per month due to product waste, the solution by the Wialon partner helped them reduce this sum. Currently, losses have decreased by 40%, and it’s planned to reduce them by 80%.
Public transport
Geoservice (Russia)
Project: Automating the taxi fleet operation using telematicsThe Wialon partner developed a solution for the Korolevskiy dom company, which leases vehicles for taxi drivers. Their fleet comprises more than 100 vehicles, and numerous management operations were performed manually. The chatbot, a separate development based on a telematics platform, automated the main processes: control of each car, payment collection, fine payment, salary withdrawal, and even automatic engine blocking in case of unpaid rent. After the solution implementation, the client noted that the number of parking fines was also significantly reduced, and the car downtime decreased.
The solution by Interra allowed the client to fully trace the entire apple picking process, from sending machines to the orchards and their further monitoring to the final recording of the harvested crop. Within the project, the printing of labels with QR codes was introduced. Each QR code stores information on how much and what type of apples are in the box. As a result, all operations related to accounting apples were accelerated, making it possible to take advantage of more effective business decisions. The innovation was also reflected in figures: the gross harvest increased by 25% – from 2,400 to 3,000 tons.
This is an unusual project for the government organization engaged in sustainable environmental, social, and economic development. Its goal is to help Golfina sea turtles reproduce and survive. Previously, scientists couldn’t control the temperature and humidity inside incubators, which directly affected eggs development and the endurance of babies. The solution by Cobertura Total en Telemetría helped increase the number of newborn turtles in the 2020-2021 season, as well as their chances to survive and reproduce in the years to come. Hopefully, this will prevent species extinction.
Construction and demolition
Montrans (Russia)
Project: Fuel balance control in an oil field service company
The solution by Montrans helped cope with the problem of fuel fraud committed by drivers in the Russian office of one of the world’s largest oilfield service companies. Now the company monitors refueling of the fleet comprising 500 units, can compare the fuel amount supplied during a fill-up and that actually got into the fuel tank, as well as quickly detect unauthorized interference with the equipment operation. The result is jawdropping – fuel savings amounted to a whopping 40% since the solution implementation.
The solution was created for Correos, a major Spanish service provider that covers correspondence and parcels deliveries nationwide and internationally. The task was to optimize document flow, improve parcel tracking, and control a list of other essential operations. The solution also needed to be integrated with multiple internal and external platforms. Even though the project is still in process (by the plan, it will be completed in 2023), the work done so far has a positive effect on the company's operations – the quality of international deliveries has increased.
The solution was developed for a company that delivers fuel to gas stations and private clients in South Africa. The company often suffered from theft and theft of fuel trucks, resulting in significant losses. Theft of just one fuel truck costs the company from $27,000 to $40,000 expenses! The solution by Tracking Africa allowed the client to secure their fleet and transported goods both from theft and uncareful driving. After the project implementation, it was possible to save money on speeding fines – there are much fewer of them.
Yollar was faced with the task of improving the video surveillance system in the network of private schools, complementing it with offline work, a face recognition system, and contact monitoring. The system upgrade has reached a new level: walkie-talkies have been replaced with a comprehensive solution that determines employees’ location, records video, and allows you to identify faces and determine whether people wear face masks. The solution improved safety at schools and also helped combat the spread of COVID-19.
This is a solution for Yuma, the local company specializing in road services, including help with accidents. If earlier Yuma specialists came to the accident location and didn’t know what happened, what kind of help was needed, the solution by AVS Solutions changed everything.
It significantly facilitated the work with road accidents: application users (dispatchers and drivers) see the nearest assistance groups in real time, drivers immediately inform Yuma about an accident, indicate its type, and then get help as quickly as possible. There is also an economic effect: the company saves time and fuel, as now there is no need to go to the accident site just to assess the situation.
LafargeHolcim, a large international company that produces and sells construction mixes and concrete, needed a tracking solution. Working in this production is dangerous, so employees must comply with the uniform safety requirements. The ready-made solution made it possible to control driving quality at the manufacturing site, monitor driving parameters of a large number of vehicles, as well as introduce a reward and penalty system. Driver behavior at the site has considerably improved due to monitoring and clear KPI.
The BiotechnologiesTyumen company decided to replace the engines of its vehicle fleet with gas ones. However, they are more sensitive to overheating, and improper operation can result in damage and fuel overconsumption. It was necessary to create a solution that could accurately control the engines’ temperature range. As a result, most potential damage to natural gas engines due to operating conditions violations was avoided. The customer saves not only on using natural gas as fuel but also successfully reduces repair costs.
The Wialon partner created a full-fledged oil field walk-around control system for Bulgarneft, an oil company from Tatarstan. The solution identifies employee violations during the walk-around, thus motivating them to do the work conscientiously. As a result, working hours spent monitoring employees’ work decreased by 90%, and the number of fully completed tasks increased by 80%.
Coca-Cola Europacific Partners faced problems typical for the region: it was challenging to keep track of cargo containers scattered around the country and plan trips, while trucks with containers were often subject to hijacking. The solution by MasterSystem Technologies allowed tracking of all 500 containers and increased cargo safety. The client also managed to reduce detention and demurrage fees as now it’s possible to track containers that have been in the warehouse for too long.
GPS Tracking Systems offered a telematics solution for a leasing company that provides expensive hay-baling machinery for rent. The solution allows the company to accurately calculate the number of hay bales produced and transfer this data to managers and dispatchers in time. Thus, the problem of communication with drivers and customers was addressed, and any fraud attempts were eliminated. Since the data is collected automatically, the human factor can no longer affect accounting accuracy.
The solution was developed for Sky Logistics, a company that rents out construction machinery and delivers it across Egypt. The challenge was to automate daily fleet operations, increase their efficiency and reduce costs. The solution reduced the average delivery time by half. Drivers now spend 20 minutes at each checkpoint instead of 30 like it was before.
Tesla Smart created a unified monitoring platform for Globaltruck, one of the largest carriers in Russia. The solution allows the company to receive a large amount of data on their fleet and not worry about the safety of goods transported in curtain-sided and refrigerator trailers. The customer can remotely control the opening and closing of the doors, monitor the temperature and humidity inside semi-trailers. 2,500 vehicles are under the control of the solution.
Watch the recording of the award ceremony on our YouTube channel:
The next competition for IoT projects will be held in 2022.
Kristina Kryuchkova
Kristina is a PR manager at Gurtam. She writes press releases and articles and promotes the company's ratings and competitions in the media outlets.
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Tetron developed a unified platform for organizing road transportation. This solution united drivers, dispatchers, customers, and contractors and also automated many work processes. As a result, transportation quality control improved, and costs were reduced. For example, the load only on dispatchers decreased by 40% due to digitalization. The work control system provided 10% savings for the client..png)
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The Wialon partner developed a solution for the Korolevskiy dom company, which leases vehicles for taxi drivers. Their fleet comprises more than 100 vehicles, and numerous management operations were performed manually. The chatbot, a separate development based on a telematics platform, automated the main processes: control of each car, payment collection, fine payment, salary withdrawal, and even automatic engine blocking in case of unpaid rent. After the solution implementation, the client noted that the number of parking fines was also significantly reduced, and the car downtime decreased.-min.png)
