Ukrainian Entrepreneur Applies Logistics Products to Relief Efforts
By Gary Burrows
Alexa Sinyachova, co-founder and CEO of Moeco and 12-year industry veteran, has developed a unique IoT-based tracking solution that provides end-to-end visibility into supply chains. Now the Ukrainian native is applying her logistics expertise to relief efforts for her homeland.
Sinyachova will be the keynote speaker at the Women in Breakbulk: Breakbulk Edition, sponsored by GEODIS, to be held May 18 during Breakbulk Europe, May 17-19 at the Rotterdam Ahoy.
Below are excerpts from a recent Q&A with Sinyachova. They have been edited for space and clarity.
Q: How are you accomplishing deliveries of relief supplies to Ukraine? What sorts of shipments have been delivered and how has Moeco assisted?
From the first days of the war, Moeco founder Mit Gorilovsky and I did everything to help Ukraine and our fellow citizens. Coordinating directly with Ukraine’s Ministry of Health and Ministry of Defense, we have organized the purchase and logistics of medical supplies and body armor, helping to ensure they reach the areas where they are needed most. So far we have shipped almost US$2.5 million worth of supplies, helped by private fundraising initiatives. The aid goes to the state institutions of Ukraine, and is then distributed among residents.
But we had to make sure that the parcels, collected by the efforts of hundreds of caring people, arrived safely and at the right address. And this is where the Moeco system really performed well. Modern logistics is based on the fact that the status of the package is updated manually by people at intermediate points. Shipment arrives at the warehouse and the specialist checks its safety and the fact of arrival. This system fails even in civilian life: parcels are detected late, goods deteriorate due to inadequate transportation conditions.
We couldn’t let that happen, so we provided Moeco Global Tags for free to track every single package. Volunteers helped us to place them – it requires special skills to attach. All that needs to be done is stick a 16-millimeter sticker on the parcel, scan the QR code and enter the destination.
We had no doubts about their reliability because we have tested them many times and they justified themselves in commercial logistics. The trackers work with support for 4G / 5G, are protected according to the IP54 standard, and each battery lasts up to three months. We could make the battery bigger, but even in critical conditions, we must not forget the environment. Our sustainability trackers contain less than 2 grams of lithium and can be disposed of with plastic waste. In addition, they are one-sided and do not require reverse logistics, which is more relevant than ever in the current conditions. This eliminates additional costs and reduces CO2 emissions.
After that, we tracked each package in real time on our dashboards. We knew where they were, whether the temperature and humidity conditions were violated – this is especially important for medicines – whether the parcels got in, or whether they were opened due to the light sensor. At the same time, all five sensors fit in a small tracker, 10 by 10 centimeters.
We set up notifications about deviations from the indicators in advance. If something happened to one of the parcels, the platform would send a notification by email or SMS. In addition, in the Moeco CRM platform, we set geopoints at different stages of delivery. So we were able to track the progress of the delivery every minute, and receive automatic notifications about the passage through the next checkpoint.
Q: You and your staff are also working on fundraising, can you tell us more?
I’m from the Ukrainian city of Odesa and I’m based in Berlin. To expand our fundraising efforts, Moeco has teamed up with www.kindrace.com. This is a charity initiative by my friend Tetiana Grynova, a Ukrainian philanthropist and marathon runner. Based in Berlin, Tetiana runs a half-marathon in the city center every day to raise funds and has pledged to do so each day until the war ends. The funds will go to purchasing and supplying these essential items for Ukraine. I would also like to thank the guys from our team for their help. Vlad Bakaliar, Ilia Astafev, Tetiana Grynova, Mit Gorilovskiy, and Ekaterina Lebedeva!
Q: Is your family safely out of Ukraine. How complicated was that? Have your Ukrainian staff also been successfully evacuated?
We evacuated our part of the team from Ukraine during the first two weeks of the war. To be honest, I’m horrified by what’s happening. I arrived in my war-torn home country a few days after the invasion of Russian troops. I took my mother to Berlin. I still have friends in Odesa – they defend their homeland as part of the territorial defense forces and the Armed Forces of Ukraine. I couldn’t get my grandmother out of there – she’s too old to leave Ukraine. My uncle could not leave, he is sick with epilepsy and needs regular medical care. I am very afraid that there will be interruptions in the medicines he needs.
For more about Moeco and its products see: https://breakbulk.com/Articles/moeco-develops-5g-based-cargo-tracker.
Image credit: Moeco
