Post-pandemic supply chains have been challenged by delays in shipping, backups at major ports, and slowdowns in loading and unloading cargo ships. One proposed solution comes from an unlikely source: a global three-way partnership among Maersk, NASA, and FASTSIGNS.  

Here’s how this works. FASTSIGNS turns entire Maersk shipping cartons into QR codes that can then be scanned from space. “We never thought to use automated scanning software to keep track of our cargo,” said Greg Steinberg, manager of global shipping for Maersk. “This is going to be a game-changer.”

Each container must be wrapped in all black or all white by a local FASTSIGNS franchise and arranged in a specific configuration on the deck of a Maersk cargo ship, to form a flotilla of ship-sized QR codes. Satellites developed and launched into geosynchronous orbit by NASA are essentially large, multi-million-dollar QR code readers.

“The idea is to arrange the top layer of containers into the shape of a specific QR code on the deck of the ship,” said Steinberg, “Then unload the cargo at port in the exact same configuration to scan again from space upon delivery. The trick is to keep the exact configuration throughout the process. If one container goes missing, we’re screwed.”

FASTSIGNS is excited to be a part of this groundbreaking advancement in technology. FASTSIGNS has long had a relationship with NASA, when several years ago the space agency was instrumental in helping the franchise open its first center on the Moon.

“When they came to me with the idea, I thought it was too crazy to work,” said Karen Miller, a woman in the back office of FASTSIGNS Toledo. “But hey, we could use the money.”

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