Dallas-based Polte Corporation has announced a new partnership with CoreKinect to launch new IoT-powered supply chain tracking solutions for enterprises across the globe.
In teaming up, the two companies will address operational efficiency and real-time asset visibility in the supply chain. It’s a rapidly evolving demand, the duo said in a release.
“Global supply chains have been impacted by the ripple effects of COVID-19, partially due to a lack in visibility of their assets,” Polte CEO Ed Chao said. “Where companies were once able to track hundreds of trucks, they can now track the millions of assets and packages that are inside the trucks.”
Chao said Polte will be able to provide accuracy sufficient for the majority of IoT use cases, while at the same time solving any limitations that come with competing technologies.
Polte is an innovator in “Cloud Location over Cellular” technology, or C-Loc, with the company’s patented alternative to GPS. The platform works by leveraging the ubiquitous 4G and 5G networks that are widely available worldwide. The technology allows manufacturers, distributors, and sellers of goods to more effectively track, manage, and geolocate millions of distributed assets, the company says.
It’s the next generation of traditional GPS for IoT—the cellular networks and cloud computing is able to provide highly accurate indoor and outdoor location, Polte explains. A variety of sectors—supply chain, logistics, manufacturing, healthcare—are also able to drive down costs and power. And, through Polte’s unique architecture, called Lite-Touch, 4G and 5G cellular-connected devices have extended battery life, which eliminates the need for GPS for vendors.
Polte’s new partner, Arizona-based startup CoreKinect, provides scalable IoT hardware design and manufacturing. The company says it’s changed the way IoT solutions are delivered. CoreKinect has developed products in asset tracking, vehicle and fleet management, smart home, smart city, wearables, agriculture, and energy management, according to a statement.
With the announcement, Polte’s location technology will be embedded into CoreKinect’s proprietary hardware architecture. The companies said this will fill a hole in the market, specifically for smaller, individual assets like packages and pallets traveling indoors and out.
Oftentimes, GPS, Wi-Fi, and BLE fall short. Many IoT asset tracking use cases rely on traditional location tech, which isn’t typically designed for IoT. Issues range from steep upfront deployment costs to complex amalgamations to security vulnerabilities, Polte notes.
“Polte’s and CoreKinect’s solution solves the inherent challenges of today’s approaches by enabling rapid, simplified deployments,” the companies said in the announcement. “By providing more security, less bulk, lower cost, and longer battery life, Polte and CoreKinect are redefining what is possible with Enterprise IoT.”
It’s a two-sided operation: Polte’s existing Mobile IoT networks scrap the need for additional infrastructure, while CoreKinect’s devices allow for seamless scalability without compromising quality.
For enterprises to adopt IoT, it’s critical to offer a “truly low-cost, scalable solution,” CoreKinect CEO and Co-founder Assar Badri said in a statement.
With CoreKinect’s scalable and modular design expertise, the companies can unlock “a whole new range of use cases” that can give companies the insights and transparency they need to take action—in real time, he noted.
Last year, Polte raised $12.5 million in strategic funding from private investors. With the Series A-2 funding, Polte planned to focus on boosting the commercial and industrial applications of its platform.
Chao was also named one of Dallas Innovates’ Future 50 Innovators you need to know right now.
Chao has more than two decades of experience with stints at MetroPCS, Lucent Technologies, and even The White House. He joined Polte in 2018, and told us last year the startup was gearing up to launch across North America and find opportunities to go global.
“All the use cases that come out of how people want to use the technology are really, really, really inspiring,” Chao told us. “From saving lives to securing the food supply.”
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