SenseAware powered by FedEx is just the latest example of how the package delivery giant is working to ensure its customers’ shipments arrive “intact and on time,” the company’s standard for excellence. Chris Swearingen, marketing manager, vertical market development of SenseAware by FedEx, talked about the solution during his ITEXPO (News - Alert) keynote today in Miami.

The SenseAware solution, which relies on wireless communications technology, offers FedEx customers access to the vital statistics of their packages; provides alerts as to the location, temperature and light exposure of individual shipments; and more. The company recently announced this solution is now available to all FedEx customers.

As FedEx founder and CEO Fred Smith said way back in 1978, “The information about the package is as important as the package itself.” This quote also dovetails nicely with the idea behind SenseAware, Swearingen indicated.

SenseAware is an information service composed of two things. One of those things is the SenseAware application, which customers can access via the Internet to get near real-time vital signs of their shipments, receive alerts to problems, launch exception-based collaboration, review audit trails, and more. The second component of SenseAware is the device, or devices, that travel with shipments to provide those shipments’ vital signs. The company currently uses the 1000 version of these wirelessly-enabled sensors, but it’s readying to introduce a new 2000 version.

The concept of using wireless technology to enable customers to monitor their products during the shipment process is gaining steam. Attendees of ITEXPO West last year in Austin may recall a 4GWE keynote speech in which Matt Groppe, director of global business development for DHL SAMEDAY, discussed how his company is leveraging an M2M-enabled full sensor suite to offer similar capabilities.

Groppe talked about the helplessness and anticipation regular airline passengers sometimes feel when waiting for their luggage to appear on the carousel at their destination airport. Imagine, he said, how anxious a plant manufacturer who’s losing $10,000 an hour waiting for a part to arrive or a surgeon who’s awaiting materials for an urgent medical procedure must feel. Armed with M2M and sensors, he said, shipping companies can let them know when to expect their shipment.

Want to learn more about M2M technologies? Then be sure to check out the M2M Evolution Conference, collocated with TMC’s ITEXPO East 2012, happening NOW in Miami, FL. The M2M Evolution Conference is for industry professionals interested in capitalizing on a rapidly growing segment of the telecom industry. The M2M Evolution Conference embraces the any-to-any strategy of the Internet today. Co-sponsored by TMC (News - Alert) Partner Crossfire Media, it showcases the solutions, and examines the data strategies and technological requirements that enterprises and carriers need to capitalize on a market segment that is estimated to grow to $300 Billion in the year ahead. For more information on registering for the M2M Evolution Conference click here.

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