arviem's CEO Talks About Becoming the "Google of Trade"

I first met Stefan Reidy, CEO and founder, of arviem several years ago when he was in NY City to speak with Forbes magazine for an article on his ideas for tracking freight containers using a variety of wireless technologies.

During the interview Reidy was incredibly enthusiastic about what this could mean for the future of supply chains. In fact, he liked the idea so much that he started up his own company less than two years later in 2008.

After recently reading about arviem's new collaboration with H.B. Fuller I decided to catch up and see how things are going.

1. First, the name, arviem, where does it come from?

Stefan Reidy (SR): When we founded the company, we were looking for a compelling name. We thought about hawk eye, cargo monitoring, etc. But if you Google these buzz words, you get thousands of hits and we probably would have problems in differentiating ourselves. In addition, most of the companies using such names are engineering companies or hardware companies - but certainly not service-companies as we are.
 
Brainstorming about the potential name with friends, someone came up with the idea of using the first letters of the last names of the original founders: R for Reidy and vM for van de Mheen. This resulted in RvM and spelled out ar - vi - em.

2. We've been hearing about the Internet of Things and its role in the supply chain for quite some time. Why do you think it has taken so long to catch on?

SR: The challenge is the business model. You have to be aware, that the supply chain or logistics market is a very fragmented market. In average 40 different parties are involved - and therefore the most important question is: To WHOM are you selling WHAT? The WHO hast to spend money, has to pay your product, your software, your service. But the WHO is only doing so, if there is a business case to justify the WHAT. It sounds very simple, like a business lesson for dummies. But I think it is the main reason for many failures in this topic.

4. Can you talk about your new partnership with HB Fuller?

SR: H.B. Fuller has products, which are temperature sensitive and products, which should reach the final destination on time in order not to slow down the clients production process. With real-time data we help H.B. Fuller to better manage these KPIs among others.

5. What are you using for sensors on the containers and how do they connect to the network?

SR: All our devices have the same sensor suite and same functionality. Only then we can also optimize the utilization of the devices. Without releasing any confidential details about the devices, we monitor temperature, humidity, shock and door security in combination with time and position. The data from the devices is sent via cellular or satellite to our back-end, where the data is combined with other data from other sources in order to make the most actionable information for our clients. 

6. Where do you see arviem in 5 years?

SR: We would like to become the "Google of Trade". We will be monitoring not only containers but all modes of transport -- down to the specific item. In combination with other data sources, we will be able to make use of “big data” and consult our clients in order to bring their supply chains to perfection.