IBM takes supply chain and event sensing the extra mile

Martin Wildberger, vice president of IBM sensor solutions, explains that using WebSphere Sensor Events software, massive volumes of sensor data can now be gathered and analysed to provide business visibility and automated responses to changing conditions. He gives the example of sensors used to monitor and manage water flow rates or the flow of energy across power grids, also citing RFID sensors for item identification, tracking and authentication. "Sensors serve as an instrument for giving a voice to physical objects, allowing them to communicate important information in an increasingly interconnected world," says Wildberger. "By capturing and analysing information from sensors, clients are infusing their operations with unprecedented levels of intelligence and agility," he insists. In operation, he says, WebSphere Sensor Events – which, importantly, spans all the way from capturing information from sensors to connecting systems for analytics, business process management and managing physical assets – captures the data and automates ERP-driven reactions, following a set of rules. WebSphere Sensor Events includes business event processing technology, obtained by IBM from its acquisition of AptSoft in 2008, as well as business process management and events management capabilities from WebSphere and Tivoli. Wildberger cites Volkswagen as a current IBM sensor software user, in its case for on-demand access to shipping containers location information for transporting parts from suppliers to its manufacturing floors.