Smart monitoring solution for better procurement and supply chain management - Speeding up chemical industry digitalization

Project Information

TankSensor

Grant agreement ID: 945010

DOI

10.3030/945010

Project closed

EC signature date 3 March 2020

Start date 1 January 2020

End date 31 December 2021

Funded under

• INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Innovation In SMEs

Total cost

€ 2 539 002,50

EU contribution

€ 1 777 301,75

Coordinated by

NANOLIKE
France

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - TankSensor (Smart monitoring solution for better procurement and supply chain management - Speeding up chemical industry digitalization)

Reporting period: 2021-01-01 to 2021-12-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The global chemical industry is witnessing rapid changes in demand and leveraging digitalization to improve its operational efficiency has become a vital need for the industry. Logistics is a key aspect of the chemical industry as production and consumption locations are mostly separated. Managing chemical and petrochemical supplies has become extremely challenging. All stakeholders, from the producer to the end user need innovative solutions to transform logistics. Digitalisation and IoT are expected to be a gamechanger for chemical industry. Unfortunately, in many sectors there are no innovative tools that could enable it – and chemical industry is one of them.

Nanolike created TankSensor, an IoT nanosensor and software solution for fill-level monitoring of industrial tanks. It creates network of the connected smart tanks, providing fill level
and geolocation information remotely and in real time, enabling to plan, manage and optimise the supply chain. TankSensor is a non-invasive, easy to install Plug and Play device. It works for liquids, solids, gases and dangerous chemicals. It enables total visibility & control of chemicals fill levels improving stock management and eliminating risk of unexpected running out of stock.

Our goal is to become the leader of IoT logistics optimization and supply chain automation solutions for the chemical industry. The company success in the EIC Accelerator program will enable us to create a new market of sensors and expand geographically to reach more European, Asia-Pacific and North American markets. The support from the European Commission, through the H2020 program will give us necessary resources to deploy the action plan, additional networking and business opportunities. It will strengthen the visibility and credibility of the company on the international arena.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

From the start date of the project (1st January 2020) to the end date of the second period (31st December 2021), the following activities have been carried out:

1) We have designed a new electronics board with high autonomy and compatible with Sigfox in many countries
2) We have designed a new electronics board with cellular technologies to be able to rollout our solution in countries where Sigfox is not present
3) We have increased our production capacity to 200k units per year
4) We have developed algorithms and machine learning models to provide reliable measurements to our customers, accurate forecasting and geolocation
5) We have developed a new API, a new database architecture and built several service to connect our IT systems to customers' IT infrastructure.
6) We have been effectively managing the project and concluded the following tasks:
- Communication with the EC Project Officer regarding the project has been conducted via project dedicated email
- Setting up and running project finances, including the financial accounting system to follow the planned budget
- Setting up and holding regular meetings with the Work Package Leaders to follow up the work progress in the project
- Risks were monitored on a regular, monthly basis and we have stayed vigilant to the inherent risks of the project and continuously worked on risk mitigation
- Project documentation has been prepared and maintained in the project documentation repository especially related to deliverables, periodic reports, procedures and resource allocation
We prospected and addressed chemical distributors and manufacturers for the IBC solution in 8 EU countries as well as agricultural feed distributors and manufacturers in 12 EU states, closing a total of 8 MOUs / partnership agreements.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

TANKSENSOR is beyond state-of-the-art on many levels, surpassing both the most innovative and the most popular industry solutions. We fill in the innovation gap in the market by providing smart solution for remote measurement, monitoring and supply chain optimization of the industrial tanks. We overcame the limitations of current state of the art by providing a complete end-to-end solution from the measurement to the logistics optimization.
By optimizing and reducing truck traffic, chemical leaks and overflows from the containers, the TankSensor will minimize risk of the environmental damages caused by hazardous materials and reduce CO2 emissions. We also plan to counteract the plastic waste of IBCs, as each container uses 30 – 40 kg of plastic and 20 million IBCs are manufactured each year. Today the top 3 manufacturers are collecting less than 5% of the old IBCs for recycling and creating new ones with the recycled materials. TankSensor can be used to track unused IBCs and send alerts to get them back for recycling with a target estimated to 30%. It could save more than 150 000 tons of plastic every year. Companies handling IBC containers can save up to 35% in direct and indirect costs related to the logistics - as proven in our Proof of Concept studies. Our solution has been successfully tested and added value to the large suppliers of chemicals. This allows to bring to the society more affordable prices directly for transported chemicals and indirectly for other products and services related with those chemicals. Moreover, by optimization of logistics will significantly lower the risk of exposure to chemicals and health problems thereof.

TankSensor for agriculture and construction markets

Web IBC platform

Mobile app for SILO

Examples of social media posts

European Chemistry Partnering event in Frankfurt_February 2020

IBC sensor device