Lamplight Logistics

Lamplight Logistics is a software-first IoT provider specializing in Real-Time Location Systems (RTLS). By creating a “blue dot experience” for industrial assets, Lamplight helps enterprises track everything from high-value automotive components to sensitive pharmaceutical shipments. Their platform is designed to be tech-agnostic, merging various data streams (Bluetooth, UWB, and even machine vision) into a single source of truth for the enterprise.

“Success is far beyond the dashboard,” says Kurt Nehrenz, CEO and Co-Founder of Lamplight Logistics. “It’s about hydration of existing business systems. We want to fill that ‘current location’ field in a customer’s SAP or ERP automatically, making their daily workflows more effective without adding another portal to log into.”

"Soracom establishes trust. I feel comfortable having a giant box of gateways shipped to God-knows-where, knowing that as soon as they get plugged in, they're going to work."

Kurt Nehrenz

CEO

Lamplight Logistics

Challenge: Connectivity as a Barrier to Entry

In the world of RTLS, the “where” is only as good as the “how.” For Lamplight, the primary obstacles to scaling their solutions were threefold:

1. The IT Gatekeeper: Traditional RTLS often relies on local wired LAN or Wi-Fi, which requires grueling security reviews and configuration by the customer’s IT department. This can stall a deployment for months.
2. Predictability at the Edge: Shipping hardware to a remote facility or across international borders often leads to “connectivity anxiety” – wondering if the device will find a signal or if the data costs will spiral out of control. Beyond the initial connection, maintaining those devices can pose a logistical nightmare; if a gateway drops offline in a facility three states away, the cost of a “truck roll” to send a technician for a manual reset can instantly evaporate the project’s ROI.
3. The Complexity of Diverse Hardware Ecosystems: Because there is no “silver bullet” technology, Lamplight often manages a fleet of disparate devices, from Bluetooth gateways and UWB anchors to LoRA gateways and RFID portals/readers. Synchronizing these devices to ensure they are all checking in, running the latest firmware, and communicating with the cloud in a unified way adds a layer of operational complexity that traditional, fragmented carrier solutions are ill-equipped to handle.

Solution: A Seamless “Cheat Code” for Global RTLS

To overcome these hurdles, Lamplight partnered with Soracom and Cassia Networks to provide a secure, cellular-first backbone for deploying enterprise-grade Bluetooth gateways. This approach transformed their deployment model into a true plug-and-play experience, allowing them to bypass the customer’s internal network entirely. “Our goal is minimal effort,” explains Nehrenz. “We ship gateways and say, ‘Please plug these in. Game done.’ Soracom ensures that as long as they can see the sky, they’re going to work.”

Advanced Management and “Game-Changing” Diagnostics Beyond global reach, the Soracom platform provides the granular control necessary to maintain high-fidelity RTLS streams. Lamplight leverages Soracom Napter and Soracom Peek as “game changers” for their remote service model. 

• Through Napter, the team can perform secure, on-demand remote access to any gateway, opening SSH sessions to run diagnostics or update software without a “truck roll.” 
• When deeper troubleshooting is required, Peek allows for real-time network packet capture, enabling the team to isolate protocol issues or RF interference on the fly.

Cloud-Native Integration This entire suite is delivered as a managed service built on AWS infrastructure, allowing Lamplight to route telemetry directly into their private cloud environment. This ensures that sensitive asset data remains encrypted and isolated from the public internet while allowing the team to use Soracom’s APIs to monitor data usage and signal health in real-time. By leveraging this native integration, Lamplight can reliably execute complex commands, such as triggering a specific Bluetooth tag to start blinking via a cloud-to-device command, with near-zero latency.

Why Soracom

Eliminating Infrastructure Friction Soracom allows Lamplight to bypass the “IT negotiation” phase by using cellular-backed gateways. Instead of waiting months for corporate Wi-Fi access, they can achieve Day 1 deployment with plug-and-play hardware that connects to the cloud the moment it is powered on.

Global Continuity and Scalability Soracom’s multi-carrier coverage eliminates “dark spots” as assets move across borders or through remote facilities. This reliable connectivity, managed through a single cloud console, allows Lamplight to troubleshoot and scale their SIM fleet globally without the need for expensive on-site maintenance.

Optimized Asset Intelligence By offloading security and protocol conversion to the Soracom network, Lamplight significantly extends the battery life of its field sensors. This ensures high-fidelity data flows directly into client ERP systems (like SAP), shifting the focus from simple tracking to automated business outcomes.

The Outcome: From “Nice-to-Have” to “Mandated”

By pairing a flexible software stack with Cassia’s gateways and Soracom’s reliable global connectivity, Lamplight has turned RTLS into a predictable, high-ROI business tool. They have successfully eliminated the “dark spots” in automotive supply chains, where losing custom-molded pallets or sequence racks previously resulted in massive capital losses.

“No more dark spots,” says Nehrenz. “People are going to expect to know where their things are. It’s going to be mandated rather than a nice-to-have before too long, and Soracom provides the trusted connection that makes our stuff work.”

The Road Ahead: The Future of “Always-On” Intelligence

Moving forward, Lamplight is focused on evolving RTLS from a “nice-to-have” into a mandatory operational standard. By deepening its integration with Soracom’s Connectivity APIs, Lamplight aims to embed real-time network diagnostics and automated billing alerts directly into its UI, creating a single pane of glass for both asset and network health.

The next phase of the partnership centers on “Anti-Tamper” security, leveraging IMEI locking and Virtual Private Gateways (VPGs) to ensure field hardware remains dedicated strictly to mission-critical data. As Kurt Nehrenz notes, the goal isn’t just “tech for tech’s sake,” but rather “getting as close to the dollars as possible” by uncovering the hidden ROI found in total supply chain awareness. Whether via advanced Bluetooth standards or Satellite IoT (NTN), Lamplight’s mission remains the same: eliminating every remaining dark spot in the global supply chain.