Mendix, a Siemens business and the global leader in enterprise low-code, today announced that AntTail, a technology services provider specializing in cold-chain logistics for medical and perishable supplies, has developed an IoT data-tracking solution to safeguard the Covid-19 vaccination program in Uruguay. The solution, based on the Mendix low-code platform, enables the Uruguayan government to distribute and store the vaccinations according to specific refrigeration requirements, allowing officials to rapidly vaccinate their population.

Together with partner Va-Q-tec, Netherlands-based AntTail is able to ship the specially designed cooling boxes to every corner of the South American country. These temperature-controlled boxes, each containing over a thousand of vaccinations, can be used for storage, removing the need for additional specially designed refrigerators. This way, every possible location in the country, including remote areas, can serve as vaccination distribution centers.

The Mendix-built application monitors attached sensors to determine the exact temperature inside the box. To maintain medical efficacy, vaccines need to be stored at five degrees Celsius during the last 48 hours before vaccination. Thanks to the application, end users don't have to open the sealed boxes now to check the temperature, ensuring consistent temperature and 24/7 real-time monitoring.

Bluetooth wireless sensors to gather and save data

The team of AntTail built the IoT application with the Mendix low-code platform in just three months. Low-code software development enables developers of varied experience levels to create applications for web and mobile, using drag-and-drop components and model-driven logic through a graphical user interface.

With Bluetooth connectivity, data from 300 mobile sensors attached to the boxes is gathered and saved on the secure AntTail cloud (AntCloud). The results are downloaded onto the Mendix-built integrated platform and accessed via smartphone. For data visualizations and read-outs, the AntTail team chose to work with Bluetooth wireless sensors (named ANTlux) on the boxes, measuring the temperature of the shipped vaccines. Box openings will be reported to AntCloud, to prevent the boxes to be opened during transit. The Mendix app pushes the data to the backend database, which runs on AWS. Subsequently, the status will appear on the mobile device used to scan the box.

Zero-waste channel

Mark Roemers, co-founder and CEO of AntTail: "The app will show the history of the box, showing the temperature from loading, transport to storage. An audit will show who scanned the box, so we can be sure where the box has been and who used it. After a box returns, we're able to re-use the sensors, creating a zero-waste channel."

The business case in Uruguay provided that a nation is able to vaccinate a large part of the population in just a couple of months, representing an example for countries who fall behind in their vaccination strategies. Roemers: "It's very satisfying to see the latest Mendix software solutions work in all corners of the world, even in the middle of nowhere."

Nienke Faber, Customer Success Manager at Mendix: "Mendix and AntTail have been partners for several years. We're extremely proud they've created a solution that also makes a difference in fighting Covid-19. The application is providing true transparency by making data easily accessible to the government and the people of Uruguay. By leveraging the Mendix low-code platform, AntTail has brought an innovative solution to the Covid-19 pandemic that benefits millions of people."