Track to the future

What Raphael does

Welcome to Spotlight, Raphael Stahlberg. Can you tell us what you do? 

I lead the technical consultants at G+D IoT Solutions. It’s a sort of pre-sales position, you could say. We work with our global sales teams on the right tracking solutions for large deals in the transport and logistics sector. This covers road, rail, sea, and air freight. Also, intermodal traffic, which is the link between one or more of those. 

What are the devices and solutions you take to your customers?

G+D IoT Solutions provides a set of products to large logistics operators. These include solar-powered trackers that provide maintenance-free tracking of non-powered or partially powered logistics objects. This includes railway wagons, containers, swap bodies – indeed, any asset that is movable and lacks power and that a cable-based tracking unit can connect to. 

We also have a smart label solution in our portfolio that supplies end-to-end supply chain visibility for pallets, packages, parcels, and the like.

The other side of our offering is our platform IoTgo^® Track-Fleet. The devices collect data that goes to our platform, which transforms it into useful information for our logistics customers in the form of KPI reports.

Visibility is a key requirement of the modern logistics cycle. We provide that visibility to a logistics operator, across a range of parameters, across all their assets, wherever they are. 

What kinds of parameters can your devices track?

A whole range of things. Geofence entries and exits, temperature alerts, g-force shock values, and so on. 

Can you give us a flavor of the use cases you deal with?
Let’s consider a major target, rail operators.  When we look at a rail company or its containers, the end customer is looking for different things. Among other use cases, we address

• Predictive maintenance by using Track-Solar with our powerful Track-Fleet platform to measure wagon mileage.
• The “door open/closed” parameter. The freight is valuable, and anti-theft is the most important use case.
• In cases where freight isn’t particularly valuable, having KPIs for the container is still essential to the customer to determine if they can reduce their costs by limiting the acquisition of new assets, as they can use the ones that they already have, more productively. In this use case, the data helps the operator get more from the existing fleet – or reduce it and save rental costs, while maintaining the same output.
• An operator transporting perishables needs to independently monitor their cold chain. Monitoring temperature inside the container becomes extremely important.
• Many operators want to automate their workflows for unpowered assets. We give them a solar tracker, the asset goes into a geofence, which issues an alert via API to another system, which automatically triggers the proof of delivery and the billing.

This is a very broad outline, of course. We can return to these in more depth later.

How an economist comes to the IoT

You’re an international business economist by training. Are you an engineer as well? How did you come to this line of work? 

[Laughs] I don’t think my job has too much to do with knowing what exactly is soldered where on the PCB [printed circuit board], or what material is used in the semiconductor. Of course we have to know which certifications we have, what the battery size is, what the test results are for operating hours without sunlight. But most of what we’re doing is transferring what we’ve learned from one customer to what we can use to convince the next customer. 

That is our field proof. We can support our claims with evidence from all the other logistics fleets. We know what works – and what doesn’t work. I like technology, but I don’t think you have to be an engineer to do what I do. I like that about G+D, that it makes it possible for us to explore fields and areas of work we wouldn’t have considered otherwise. 

Let’s talk about what you do now. If it’s mostly pre-sales, is it providing proof of concept (POC) and the like?

Exactly. We guide the customer during the exploratory phase. There is a moment that occurs, especially when we’re with a new or prospective client. We’ve given them some devices, and they’ll suddenly say, “I can see containers now that I’ve never seen before!” Once you’ve seen them, well, you don’t want to unsee them. 

The POC or testing phases are very important for us. We’ve given the customer all the information, but now is our chance to prove it. At the same time, we get to build a relationship with the customer. If there is some misunderstanding about the feature, or even a question, we get on another call to check what can be done. It grows from there. 

How long does this process generally take? From first contact to potential sale? 

You can never be sure. There are customers where we spend years building a relationship. But the average is between six and nine months. 

But keep in mind that’s just the sale. The rollout follows. Delivering the devices and then installing them comes next. The larger the fleet, the longer the rollout time. No one will roll out 10,000 devices at once. You just don’t have the workforce. Also, the assets need to be at a certain place for the installation to happen. 

Is there an upper limit to how many units you can cover?

The upper limit depends on the vertical. In the rail business, you’re talking up to 100,000 assets. In sea freight, we’re talking millions of containers. The different verticals automatically have different use cases. 

How do you keep solar-powered devices charged up, if they’re not facing the sun? For example, if the container is at the bottom of a stack on a ship?

Our device is capable of six months of short cyclic movement tracking without any sunlight. That period of time is enough. 

Is your operation worldwide, or do you focus on certain markets?

In principle, the devices can of course be used anywhere in the world. The regulations involved differ from country to country though. So, our solutions are currently available in specific markets. This list will grow in the future, of course.

The importance of G+D

Regulation is an intriguing challenge. Even within the European Union, there are many different acts, frameworks, and other legal requirements you must comply with. How much of an advantage is it to be part of G+D, which has experience with these regulations in multiple sectors?

[Laughs] Some people describe companies of G+D’s size as huge ships, as they are hard to turn around. I personally see G+D as more of an aircraft carrier: yes, it is gigantic, but you have these speedy smaller vessels that are able to take off, execute a mission, all the while relying on the mother ship. We are one of these smaller vessels, but we rely on the capabilities of our parent in the sense of legal compliance, export control, global presence, all those sorts of things. A small startup would have to find each one of those things on their own. 

The use cases

Let’s go back to the use cases, Raphael. Can you elaborate on how more data actually helps a logistics operator and their supply chain?

When it comes to container movements, the important part isn’t really while it’s on the vessel. It’s the last mile that is really interesting. When it’s off the ship and is headed home by train or road. 

This “last mile” is from the container terminal through the next distribution hub to the end customer, where the sea container is finally unloaded on the loading dock. It needs to be tracked, the customer needs to know that it is arriving, and there needs to be a proof of delivery at the end.

In terms of more specific use cases, asset allocation is definitely something we see interest in. Let’s say you’re a medium-sized customer and you have 1,000 containers. Let’s suppose you never had a tracking solution, so your annual inventory means someone goes out with a clipboard and notes down container numbers, at every hub or place you’re working. There are operators out there who don’t physically know how many assets they own. In contrast, everyone who already has our solution has a complete inventory, around the clock. 

But let’s go back to the customer who doesn’t have a tracking solution. Once they put it in, they might discover rental contracts for containers that are 15 years old, but that asset has never been moved. That knowledge offers you an immediate saving!

Let me explain: you’ve done the rollout, you’ve got trackers on all your containers, and in six months you’re looking at your fleet KPI. Every asset will have some kind of standstill time, be it one hour or 24 hours. But over six months, if an asset hasn’t moved, that is a cost that has never added to productivity. Every asset that falls under this particular head can simply be removed from the fleet without hampering your productivity. 

That’s a hard saving. That’s something that can turn your fleet into a profit center, without spending any money. 

What about anti-theft and pilfering? 

Our door sensors provide information on when it opens and closes. An unplanned opening would raise an alarm. Our customers can combine this in our portal with certain alerts. For example, you may have a geofence where you load the assets. You would disable the alerts while loading, but only inside the geofence. Or you may have a pre-agreed route, and as long as the asset stays within that route, that’s also OK. But the moment it exits the route, an alert is triggered that goes directly to local police or a security provider. If they’re fast enough, they might be able to secure the freight and make an arrest. The mere announcement that the fleet is secured and tracked usually leads to a reduction in theft. 

Some of our customers introduce a damage management functionality through our portal. They register damages by photo, via an app. Our portal isolates the geofence that asset came from, and then it registers origin of damage to that geofence. Again, the announcement of such a functionality already reduces damage. 

What about temperature tracking for refrigerated packages and the like?

Our customers have expressed interest in monitoring temperature autonomously. Why? Well, if the power source to a refrigerated container, or reefer, fails, there’s a likelihood its internal temperature monitor will die as well, because they’re both connected to the same power source. Plus, they can’t track it anymore. So, they want an independent tracker.

For consolidated shipments on pallets, our Smart Label solution can measure the movement of the particular package, end-to-end. Imagine a shipment of freshly caught fish being transported from Norway to Spain. Everyone needs the temperature and other markers to remain within acceptable parameters for the duration of the journey. Our solution provides that to the customer through our platform.

Let’s talk about your platform, IoTgo^® Track-Fleet. Is it an add-on to a client’s existing system, or is it independent?

It’s a web portal. You will always receive access with the product. There is no installation required. For a fee, we take care of everything, from connectivity, device management, support, platform access, reports, KPI and so on, through the platform and mobile applications if needed. It’s all-inclusive.

Also, you can combine features on it, which could lead to something that the customer was unaware of before. The modular architecture of our platform allows them to combine different things and create something entirely new. 

The first approach to a customer

How do you approach a customer for the first time? Do you have to explain they have a need they didn’t know they had?

Normally, we just outline the pain points that are already there. Among other things, we hear:

• “I don’t see my fleet.”
• “My stuff gets stolen.”
• “I don’t get an alert and the cold chain is not intact.”
• “I cannot incentivize my hub managers to use my assets better because I have no insight into how they’re being used right now.”
• “I want to know where my parcel is!” 

The customer already knows this. What we do is connect these pain points to our solution, and provide the references where we’ve already delivered value. 

What are some examples of things you haven’t heard before?

It happens when you enter a new vertical, or you have an asset that you never dealt with before. We could be speaking to a company, and they say you’re not allowed to magnetize the asset. OK, so magnet holders are out. But you’re not allowed to drill into the asset, or you can’t, because it’s out of the question. Mounting is definitely an issue in certain industries, for example in the transport of new cars. Nobody wants their brand-new automobile to be delivered with mounting holes!

Airfreight is a case in point. There is a requirement for the device to turn off at takeoff and landing. Also, operators like long-life batteries, which tend to be larger. But that’s an issue for airlines. So, we have to adapt.

Tracking of radioactive assets, for example isotopes used in medical treatments, is also an issue. The radioactivity can interfere with the signal.

Every challenge is a learning experience.

Published: 19/02/2026