Giving a whole new meaning to the phrase "beer tabs," an intelligent wireless project jointly sponsored by IBM, Heineken, international shipping company Safmarine and the University of Amsterdam is tracking suds by satellite as a means of improving internationa -trade practices.

In conjunction with Dutch Customs, U.K. Customs and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Heineken’s "Beer Living Lab" is using satellite and cellular technology to keep track of the Dutch beer as containers of it are being shipped from Europe to the United States.

The project’s goal is to improve interoperability throughout a paperless tracking system, resulting in faster product delivery and decreased costs for international trade. Heineken hopes to eliminate up to five billion documents that are annually generated through its international-shipping process.

Through its Secure Trade Lane system, IBM is providing real-time visibility and interoperability through an advanced wireless-sensor platform and its services-oriented architecture (SOA), based on IBM’s Websphere platform.

The SOA leverages IBM’s EPC Global network and Electronic Product Code Information Services (EPCIS) standards, which — rather than building and maintaining a large central database with huge amounts of information — distribute linked data sources to allow information to be shared in real time between Heineken, Safmarine and customs authorities in the Netherlands, England and the United States.

Using containers fitted with wireless devices for real-time tracking via GSM, GPRS and GPS, Safmarine will ship containers of Heineken from locations in both the Netherlands and England. through their respective customs authorities and to Heineken’s distribution center in the United States.

The University of Amsterdam will coordinate and document the project to provide a best-practices manifest to be shared throughout the European Union.

"The Beer Living Lab is setting a roadmap for the next generation [of] e-customs solutions," Yao-Hua Tan, professor of electronic business at the University of Amsterdam, said in a statement. "We test innovative solutions, based on IBM’s Tamper Resistant Embedded Controller and SOA developed by IBM that could revolutionize customs."

Tan added that "companies using these solutions could benefit greatly due to less physical inspections by customs; thus these e-customs solutions greatly facilitate international trade."

Using triangulation techniques of both satellites and cellular base stations, the cargo can be precisely located at any point. Tracking the shipments by satellite thus offer a logistical advantage over radio-frequency identification, the passive tags of which can only be identified when near a reader, instead of from anywhere on the planet.

"If governments around the world are serious about electronic customers and paperless trade, they need to encourage each country to adopt open-standards environments to enable collaboration and data sharing throughout the trade lane," Stefan Reidy, manager of IBM’s shipping-solutions unit. The Beer Living Lab project is the first step in building the Intranet of Trade, which will help to substantially improve efficiency and security in the global supply chain."

According to the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a single container crossing a border can generate more than 30 separate documents, a rate which translates to about 5 billion documents annually.

The project’s findings are intended to provide a viable alternative to each manufacturers, shippers, retailers and customs personnel as they seek to adopt a paperless trade environment.

Once effectively established, paperless trade will support initiatives, such as Green Lane, to eliminate most inspections on arrival, thus significantly speeding up ocean- freight shipments and improving the profit margins for shippers.

The pilot project is part of the European Union-sponsored Information Technology for Analysis and Intelligent Design for E-government research project in an effort to help reduce security concerns and tax fraud. By implementing the European objectives of Single-Window Access Points and Authorized Economic Operators, the project is expected to recognize and achieve significant reductions in the administrative burden, hence a reduction in costs.

For its part, IBM says the program is indicative of IBM’s research and development outreach to customers, business partners and universities as the company places an emphasis on developing a wide range of emerging technologies and first-of-a-kind solutions to link organizations and people for economic growth, improved healthcare and education, and enhanced security and safety.

And if the beer’s cold, well, more to the good.