Tive's Journey to a Million Trackers & Unprecedented End-to-End Visibility

Have you ever been on a long road trip in the middle of nowhere when suddenly the GPS loses its signal, your gas tank is only a quarter full, and there’s no sign of civilization? That's what the daily challenge of managing supply chains—without clear visibility—can feel like. The good news is that since 2015, Tive has been that consistent, reliable voice saying, "Turn left ahead."

For Krenar Komoni, the founder and CEO of Tive, being this “reliable voice” is personal. As a native of Pristina, Kosovo, Komoni demonstrated entrepreneurial flair from a young age, even while living amidst war. With a knack for computer programming, he founded a television startup post-war with friends and carved out a career bringing innovative solutions in data analytics, logistics, and electronics design to life.

This underscores why Tive’s milestone of one million trackers is about so much more than numbers. It’s also about more than transforming supply chain transparency and reliability, especially in sectors such as food and life sciences—where a lost shipment could mean spoiled produce or delayed medications.

It's a story of overcoming the odds to restore trust and confidence in an arena where perfection is a relentless pursuit.

Tive's Milestone: One Millionth Tracker

Milestones in the logistics industry are a testament to innovation, resilience, and drive to improve supply chains. Tive stands out as a trailblazer, having sold one million trackers—and helping change the industry for the better. 

Why is this Milestone Significant?

This achievement transcends mere statistics and numbers. It’s truly a success story from the ground up. The journey began in June 2015 when Krenar observed his father-in-law, a trucking company owner, spending countless hours on the phone tracking down the location of his truck drivers. This observation ignited Krenar's personal mission to help shippers and logistics providers gain real-time, in-transit visibility of shipments—across all modes of transportation. 

What started as an idea in the basement of his Worcester, Massachusetts home evolved into Tive. Over the past eight years, Tive trackers have traveled an astounding 5.5 billion miles—twice the distance between the Earth and Neptune—issuing 3.3 million alerts along the way that helped prevent product damage and loss. 

Growth & Development of Tive

When Komoni founded Tive in 2015, he had one simple goal: to help logistics professionals monitor the location of their goods. Today, Tive’s impact is evident. Leveraging advanced tracking technology that integrates real-time data, machine learning, and analytics, Tive has deployed over a million trackers to 600+ global clients—helping them proactively tackle challenges and maintain operational standards. Komoni sums it up easily, emphasizing that reaching the milestone is "a testament to our team’s dedication—and to the value this solution brings.”    

Impact on the Market

Tive's dedication to sustainability is evident in its Get Green Program, launched in 2020. By refurbishing approximately 600 trackers daily (roughly 10,000 per month) and introducing the world's first non-lithium tracker, the Solo 5G Non-Lithium, Tive demonstrates its commitment to ecofriendly practices by significantly reducing lithium waste. Komoni states, “When we created a non-lithium version of the Solo 5G tracker, it enabled Tive to operate in ways that enhance both society and the environment, which is a huge priority for us.”

Importance of End-to-End, Real-Time Shipment Visibility

The story behind every product consumers purchase often remains a mystery. However, innovations in end-to-end, real-time shipment visibility have brought it to light. 

The Importance of End-to-End Visibility

End-to-end visibility is a foundational piece that holds modern supply chains together. This transformative approach enables businesses to oversee every stage of a product's journey—from its origin to its final destination. Complete visibility doesn't simply enhance efficiency; it also actively reduces vulnerabilities by allowing businesses to proactively tackle potential issues and ensure timely, precise order fulfillment.

Why is Real-Time Visibility So Critical?

The ongoing evolution of the logistics space demands more than knowing where a shipment is—it's about understanding its condition. Real-time visibility provides this comprehensive perspective, and there’s a reason why a recent McKinsey & Company report highlighted that 67% of businesses utilize digital dashboards showing end-to-end supply chain visibility. Advanced trackers, armed with sensors, continuously monitor the health and status of freight in transit. Whether transporting pharmaceuticals at the right temperature or ensuring that vulnerable produce doesn't spoil, real-time updates from these trackers are indispensable.

Applications

End-to-end visibility becomes particularly crucial in cross-border freight operations. When goods travel across different terrains, weather conditions, and legal zones, they must arrive in perfect condition—and in our interconnected world, solely relying on one carrier or route can be a gamble. End-to-end visibility helps by providing businesses the advantage of broadening their shipping choices while still closely monitoring their operations. This oversight grants a clear view that aids in catching issues early— strengthening the overall logistics infrastructure.

Sustainability & Resilience in Supply Chains

Tive has been at the forefront of integrating end-to-end visibility with sustainability and resilience. By promoting real-time monitoring, Tive helps businesses detect inefficiencies leading to excess emissions or waste, championing greener operations. Moreover, the capability to quickly adapt to unforeseen challenges—such as storms or road closures—ensures that supply chains remain resilient and agile, thus meeting the dual goals of sustainability and reliability.

Confronting Dual Challenges: Integration & Cybersecurity

While technology has provided the tools to achieve end-to-end visibility, some challenges still remain. Integrating different modes and nodes into a unified system—which Tive is uniquely able to accomplish for their customers—coupled with cybersecurity concerns, poses significant hurdles. However, the benefits—spanning operational efficiency, heightened security, and proactive decision-making—make pursuing this visibility worth it.  

Tive’s Strength in Serving Industry Verticals

Shipment mishaps can spell disaster in industries where precise timing and temperature conditions matter—such as with food and beverage, life sciences, and pharma shipments. Tive offers specialized solutions tackling tracking and compliance issues, assuring on-time deliveries and perfect product quality. But their expertise isn't limited; Tive's benefits reach far beyond these sectors.

Food & Beverage

Not having proper shipment tracking can disrupt timely deliveries of food and beverage products, leading to bare store shelves and dissatisfied customers. Moreover, it can be challenging to quickly adapt to unexpected changes, such as temperature shifts or delays, without real-time data. At the same time, this lack of data makes it difficult to comply with the Food Safety Modernization Act, which requires 12 months of temperature data storage. To help address these issues, Tive offers real-time tracking and monitoring tailored to the food and beverage sector. Tive Solo 5G trackers closely monitor location, temperature, shock, light, and humidity, ensuring perishable goods stay in perfect condition. Additionally, Tive's platform leverages past shipment data to offer insightful analytics, improving decision making and overall supply chain management.

Life Sciences & Pharma

The journey of a life sciences and pharma product is as critical as its creation. Beyond monitoring temperature, tracking various conditions is essential to ensure safety and quality. Although packaging offers some protection, 6–10% of medical shipments by leading carriers experience delays, and 10–20% face complications. Alarmingly, up to 20% of these products—and 25% of vaccines—are spoiled and rendered undeliverable due to cold chain failures, often resulting from visibility issues. Tive steps in to mitigate these challenges by providing a complete cold chain solution. Leveraging the Solo 5G trackers, Tive ensures real-time monitoring of both location and temperature to preserve the quality of various temperature-sensitive shipments, including dry ice and cryogenic shipments.

High-Value Goods

Tive stands out not only in food and life sciences, but also by protecting high-value goods from security risks such as  cargo theft. By offering real-time insights into shipment location and condition, Tive trackers enhance security. Solo 5G trackers employ global cellular, WiFi, and GPS technology to send real-time, validated sensor data to the Tive cloud platform. A light sensor on the tracker can detect when a trailer door has been opened, and send an alert if the door was opened in an unexpected place. This capability ensures prompt responses to product damage or theft, thereby minimizing risks associated with cargo loss.

Transportation & Logistics

Finally, Tive enhances transparency and trust within transportation and logistics operations. By providing real-time visibility into shipment location and condition, Tive helps eliminate delays and damage, improving overall supply chain activities. The Solo 5G trackers capture and transmit hyper-accurate location, temperature, shock, humidity, and light exposure data, assisting in timely decision-making and better customer experiences. Logistics Service Providers (in particular 3PLs) leverage Tive’s solution as a value added service and differentiator when selling to their customers (e.g., retailers), thus contributing to increased sales and customer satisfaction.

Helping Companies Thrive with End to End, Real-Time Transportation Visibility

Companies worldwide are adopting Tive's solutions to revolutionize their supply chain visibility. Tive's impact is evident across industries—from safeguarding high-value shipments and ensuring optimal temperature conditions to delivering millions of vaccines and pioneering client strategies. There is no cargo Tive can’t help protect. 

Alpine Fresh 

Since 1988, Alpine Fresh has been a crucial bridge between Latin American growers and U.S. consumers, significantly driving the U.S. fresh food market. However, supply chain visibility issues led to losses from spoiled products and truck claims. Their use of lithium-battery trackers also raised environmental and health concerns. However, partnering with Tive in 2019 changed the game. Using Solo 5G trackers, Alpine Fresh now accesses accurate, real-time data on location, temperature, and humidity. This data not only enhances communication and safety—it also champions sustainability. The collaboration bore fruit, with Alpine Fresh avoiding hundreds of thousands of dollars in product loss. Critical successes include the Tive team intervening in potential losses on a $120,000 blueberry shipment and a $90,000 asparagus shipment.

Vector Global Logistics

Vector Global Logistics, a leading logistics firm, sought to distinguish itself and elevate its service quality. So, in 2022, they teamed up with Tive and adopted the Solo 5G Non-Lithium trackers. This initiative—focusing on real-time monitoring of shipments for location, temperature, and condition—signaled a tech leap for Vector. Its unique "first tracker free" promotion further resonated with clients, positioning them as true innovators. The results shone brightly: clients, including nonprofit Vivoblu, showered praises. Vivoblu, dedicated to providing life-saving water filters in developing countries, lauded Tive for its invaluable ability to track shipments even in remote locations, underscoring its pivotal role in humanitarian missions. 

​​Robinson Nursery

​​Robinson Nursery, a family-owned distributor of over 200 tree varieties, ships nearly 400 truckloads annually—each worth $50,000-$100,000. Its success hinges on maintaining a 30°F to 40°F environment for these trees. However, by 2021, unreliable trackers and outdated information challenged this delicate balance. That changed following a partnership with Tive. Using Solo 5G trackers, Robinson began receiving real-time updates on shipment conditions, including temperature and location. This improved visibility enhanced its customer service. Notably, Tive's data pinpointed a crop failure when trees were left in freezing temperatures, helping detect tree degradation during a 90-minute dip below 30°F during transit.

Sun-Glo of Idaho

Since 1974, Sun-Glo of Idaho has been a leading potato producer. Yet, despite its legacy of excellence, Sun-Glo's shipment tracking remained a manual, call-intensive process. That changed in June 2021 with Tive's real-time visibility solutions. Not only did working with Tive boost customer satisfaction, but it also enabled immediate issue response. For example, when a refrigerated unit on a Sun-Glo truck malfunctioned, Tive's system flagged the temperature change—preventing potential product loss. Now, Sun-Glo uses Tive to monitor everything from truck stops to shipment arrivals, reinforcing its status as a reliable supplier with transparent customer order tracking.

Helping Secure a Global Manufacturer’s High-Value Cargo

One global manufacturer struggled to track its valuable electronics shipments, with old methods jokingly compared to "pigeons." Since teaming up with Tive and implementing Solo 5G trackers, it can monitor shipments in real time—including key metrics such as temperature and humidity. This change boosted both customer service and shipment security. In one case, when a thief tampered with a container and stole some items, the thieves stole a box containing a Tive tracker. The Tive tracker was pinpointed in the Tive cloud platform, and the cargo location was reported to a large U.S. city’s police department. While the case remains open, this incident underscores the security advantages of Tive trackers especially in the U.S., where cargo theft costs between $15 to $35 billion annually.

Pharma: Delivering 20 Million COVID-19 Vaccine Doses

In late 2020, the Australian government selected a Melbourne-based logistics powerhouse to handle COVID-19 vaccine distribution. Despite boasting over 60 years of experience and recognition as the largest private entity in the Asia-Pacific, this logistics company confronted the challenge of accommodating diverse temperature requireents—from 2°C to -80°C. To address this, they collaborated with Tive for real-time shipment location and condition tracking. Utilizing Tive's Solo 5G trackers—which function in a wide temperature range of -200°C to 60°C—they efficiently served over 10,500 customers, traveled 31 million kilometers, delivered more than 20 million doses, managed 75,000+ vaccine consumables, carried out 400,000+ quality checks, and transmitted over 125 million data messages.

Tive: Transforming Supply Chain Visibility

From its beginnings in 2015 to celebrating the sale of its one millionth tracker, Tive has consistently been the guiding light in the ever-evolving maze of supply chain logistics visibility. As industries from food to life sciences confront ongoing and persistent supply chain challenges, Tive has stepped up, offering clarity and confidence. Gone are the days of "lost in transit" woes; with Tive's real-time insights, businesses can safeguard their valuable cargo and keep their promises to customers. So, whether it's a fresh batch of blueberries or a life-saving vaccine, Tive ensures it reaches its destination in prime condition. 

To see the potential for yourself, book a demo with Tive today.