The problem
Logistics teams do not lose time because they lack data. They lose time because they lack certainty. Assets move through depots, vehicles, loading bays, and busy operating spaces where signals fluctuate and handovers happen quickly. When something deviates from plan, operations needs a reliable answer to three questions: what changed, where it last made sense, and what action is required now.
Traditional approaches often perform well until the moment they matter most. Single-channel tracking can fail in steel vehicles, dense building fabric, underground areas, or routes that naturally pass through poor coverage. That creates the worst-case failure mode: a “last seen” that is not operationally useful and a recovery workflow dominated by guesswork.
The requirement was therefore outcome-led. Reduce uncertainty, shorten the time-to-diagnosis, and provide an evidence-grade trail that supports both operations and investigation. It also had to be scalable across customers and sites, not a one-off install.
Approach and constraints
Squared Technologies treated this as full-stack delivery. Hardware, RF, firmware, ingestion, alerting, and the platform experience are one system. If you optimise one layer in isolation, you usually create operational pain elsewhere. We started with workflows: who needs to know, what they need to know, and how quickly they need it.
The engineering constraints were practical. Power budgets matter because fleets cannot tolerate constant maintenance. Deployment environments vary because routes are not uniform. A serious solution must continue producing useful truth even when conditions are degraded. We avoid absolute marketing claims; instead we design resilience: layered telemetry, health reporting, and recovery modes that keep signal available when primary channels are inconsistent.
Sub‑GHz RF, including 433 MHz where appropriate, is valuable in logistics environments because propagation characteristics can be more forgiving through mixed building fabric and dense sites. The right radio strategy depends on geometry and materials, so we validate in representative conditions rather than guessing.
What we delivered
The delivered system combined multi-bearer telemetry at the edge with a secure platform designed for operational clarity. Devices were engineered around predictable behaviour, controlled power states, and the ability to produce a timeline that stays useful as conditions change. Telemetry was normalised into a consistent event history so operators can see what changed and when, rather than trying to reconstruct incidents from fragmented traces.
The platform layer was implemented as a multi-tenant system so operations teams, service partners, and customer stakeholders can be separated cleanly while still supporting engineering-grade diagnostics. Alerts were designed to be meaningful, contextual, and routed correctly so they create action, not fatigue.
Evidence-grade telemetry was treated as a first-class requirement. Operational truth requires integrity: timestamps you can trust, clear event semantics, and the ability to review the incident lifecycle without relying on memory. That supports both response and continuous improvement because teams can measure detection latency, response time, and repeat patterns across routes and sites.
For related solution work, see High value asset tracking and Asset tracking. For the foundations behind delivery, see Embedded RF engineering and Secure data platforms.
Conclusion
The programme delivered operational clarity where it matters: faster confirmation, fewer blind spots, and a trail that supports response and review. This is the difference between “tracking as a feature” and tracking as an operating capability.
If you want a pilot scoped around your routes and constraints, start with Contact and reference logistics tracking. We will define success criteria, validate the environment, and build the system as one coherent stack.