The doors have closed on Empack Birmingham 2026. After two days at the NEC, one thing is certain: the supply chain industry is ready to bridge the "visibility gap."
Last week our team spent their time at Empack UK talking to the people who keep the world of supply chains moving. While every business is unique, the structural challenges they face are remarkably consistent.
Insights from the floor: your questions, answered
The conversations at our stand were refreshingly practical. Here is how our team addressed the most common "how-to" hurdles:
"How long does the battery actually last?"
At the stand our colleagues explained that our trackers are designed to be "quiet" until they have something important to say. Instead of constantly draining unnecessary power (a.k.a., battery life) by shouting their location into the void, they only wake up when it’s needed. For example when an asset actually moves or hits a specific point/area.
Because we’ve optimized that "wake-up" logic we can offer a battery life that actually survives a full deployment cycle without unnecessary replacements. By optimizing energy consumption based on real asset behavior, our trackers stay active for years.
"Is this actually affordable at scale?"
This was the "reality check" question we heard most often from logistics managers who have thousands of crates, pallets or cages to move. For high-volume load carriers the math has to work, or the project simply never leaves the boardroom.
Our approach is simple: You shouldn’t need a massive budget to get started.
We talked a lot about our Solution-as-a-Service model, which is really just a fancy way of saying we take the headache out of the hardware. Instead of hitting you with a massive upfront bill for infrastructure or expecting you to suddenly hire a team of IoT experts to manage this, we handle the heavy lifting.
The goal is to let the scale grow alongside the value. You start where the pain is greatest, see the "invisible losses" disappear and then expand when the timing feels right. This makes scaling feel logical, instead of risk-heavy. We’re here to guide you every step of the way.
"Can we attach these trackers easily to our load carriers?"
A tracker is only as good as its ability to stay attached through the bumps, washes and high-rotation chaos of a real supply chain.
Because we develop our hardware in-house, we don't just hand you a "one-size-fits-all" and wish you good luck. We know RTIs, whether they are plastic crates, wooden pallets or metal cages and we design specifically to fit them.
Practical guidance: We offer hands-on guidance on the best mounting approach for your specific fleet to ensure the trackers survive their entire lifecycle.
The right fit: We design our hardware in-house to fit the specific shape of your load carriers. This custom engineering makes the tracker a durable part of your load carriers, rather than just an add-on.
From reactive firefighting to operational control
Beyond the hardware topics, we also had many deeper conversations about the hidden costs of a "blind" supply chain. One recurring theme was the sheer frustration of missed delivery windows and the heavy retail penalties that follow.
When you don’t have a clear view of your flow, every lost pallet or delayed shipment feels like an unavoidable "cost of doing business."
We’re here to say: it doesn't have to be.
By giving every asset its own digital replica (digital twin) our dashboard moves you from reactive firefighting to proactive control. You can see exactly how long a load carrier has been dwelling at a specific site or identify where a bottleneck is forming before it leads to an empty shelf.
The shift is simple:
Settling the score: Electronic proof of delivery would save the industry millions in unpaid goods and the endless "he-said, she-said" of dispute resolution. When the data is indisputable, the paperwork disappears.
Eliminating the "ghost Inventory": On-shelf availability improves because you stop waiting on assets that aren't there. You know exactly where your cages are dwelling and can move them before a shortage hits the floor.
Protecting the profit: By eliminating errors and shortages at the source, those heavy retail penalties vanish. You stop paying for "unavoidable" mistakes and start capturing more sales.
The next step
Empack Birmingham confirmed (again) that the industry is moving beyond fragmented visibility. The question if you should digitalize your assets isn’t relevant anymore. We collectively accepted that we have to. Now the question becomes:, how to do it in a scalable, low-risk way.
If Empack proved anything, it’s that the conversation has shifted. We’ve moved past the "if" and the "why" of digitalizing the supply chain. At this point, the industry has collectively accepted that staying "blind" is no longer an option and digitalisation is the needed step to achieve true operational control.
The real question now is: How do we do this the right way?
Logistics leaders are looking for a path that is scalable and low-risk: a way to move from "silent assets" to an intelligent flow without breaking the bank or the existing operation. That’s exactly the gap Connected Load Carrier is here to fill.
Missed us at the NEC?
Our team is already preparing for IntraLogisteX, where we will be continuing these conversations. Be sure to meet us there!
