Reelables has launched its 5G Smart Labels, a printable 5G label solution for logistics providers, cargo forwarders, and retailers to track shipments at the piece level as they move through the supply chain.
The label itself functions as the tracking device connected to a cellular network. It can fabricate an active LPWAN device with coated zinc batteries that share a common paper-thin wireless circuit. Reelables has achieved the ability to mass manufacture the smart label so thin and flexible that it can be printed in volume from off-the-shelf barcode printers, allowing precise piece level tracking of billions of shipments.
Reelables labels automatically collect actual location data from the cellular network data and trigger events the moment a shipment arrives or departs a warehouse or waypoint, or an exception is detected. They also generate inventory counts, providing a complete warehouse audit nearly every minute or less.
The underlying technology is a reel-to-reel, thin-film manufacturing process that enables Reelables to make ultra-thin wireless circuits into smart labels. The initial offering is a chipset level integration of NB-IoT, with LTE-M to soon follow as part of the 5G family of LPWAN technologies.
