An IBM i user contacted us with the requirement to combine shipment data residing on their IBM i with real time tracking of the location of trucks and shipping containers. As truck drivers entered their storage area, they needed to be able to guide them to the exact location of an available container. Or, if they were delivering a container, they needed to be able to identify an available storage location. Trucks were continuously entering and leaving their storage area through a variety of entrances and exits. Tracking them in real time was a significant challenge. This turned into a really effective use case for connecting Internet of Things sensors to IBM i applications via high performance APIs.
The challenge many logistics companies face when implementing real time tracking is achieving the extremely high performance and scalability needed from their APIs to make decisions instantly. The Internet of Things devices are continuously sending and receiving large amounts of data and require those instantaneous responses to ensure the trucks and containers go directly to the right places.
Another user needed to track thousands of packages that were being loaded onto shipping trucks so they could transmit that information to their shipping carrier to ensure all packages had been received and were appropriately routed to the correct destination. The data was being collected by scanners on conveyor belts and sent back to their IBM i at very high speed.
Companies have also identified to us the need to monitor IoT medical devices, communicate with payment processing systems, monitor machinery and equipment, track air quality levels and other environmental variables, not to mention connecting all of this data into their applications on mobile devices.
In all of these cases, the significant investment we are making at Eradani in API high capacity and speed have really paid off. Eradani Connect customers have been able to handle high volumes of concurrent requests while minimizing the use of IBM i system resources. They have been able to reduce API response times from seconds to milliseconds or even microseconds. And, because Eradani Connect supports bidirectional APIs, they can provide API access into their IBM i programs and data while also calling out from their IBM i RPG programs to send instructions and data to their IoT devices.
Like these logistics companies, many IBM i users are beginning to realize the power of being able to connect real world events to their native IBM i applications via IoT devices and APIs. It promises a whole new level of automation and productivity for our companies.
If you would like to explore how high speed API connections might work in your organization, contact us! We’d love to hear from you. You can reach us at www.eradani.com or via email at info@eradani.com.
