Air freight has long been one of the most difficult environments for asset tracking. Devices must comply with strict aviation regulations while still providing meaningful visibility before, during, and after every flight. Digital Matter believes it has solved that challenge with the launch of the new Griffin Air, a rugged GPS asset tracker designed specifically for global logistics operations.
Unlike many existing shipment trackers that are intended for single trips or require operational compromises, the Griffin Air is built as a long term tracking platform capable of remaining with valuable assets throughout their entire lifecycle.
Automatic flight detection
One of the Griffin Air’s most notable capabilities is its intelligent flight detection system. Instead of requiring logistics operators to manually configure the device before every shipment, the tracker automatically recognizes when cargo has been loaded onto an aircraft.
Once airborne, the unit disables its radio transmissions to remain compliant with airline regulations while continuing to record sensor readings and operational events locally. After landing, communications resume automatically, allowing the complete journey history to be uploaded without requiring user intervention.
This automated workflow removes one of the largest operational burdens associated with air freight tracking while reducing the risk of human error.
Multi environment positioning
The Griffin Air is designed to operate well beyond airports. The same hardware continues tracking assets during road transportation, inside warehouses, distribution centers, workshops, and long term storage facilities.
Rather than relying solely on satellite positioning, the tracker combines GPS with Wi-Fi access point scanning and cellular network triangulation. This hybrid positioning approach improves location accuracy when satellite reception is limited, particularly inside industrial buildings and dense logistics hubs.
The result is continuous visibility across multiple transport modes without switching hardware or changing configurations.
Long battery life and rugged hardware
Battery life remains one of the defining characteristics of Digital Matter’s tracking portfolio, and the Griffin Air follows that philosophy.
Powered by replaceable AA batteries, the device can operate for up to seven years depending on reporting frequency and tracking settings. This significantly reduces maintenance requirements compared with rechargeable shipment trackers that often require regular servicing.
The unit also carries DO-160 certification, allowing deployment with major international airlines without requiring separate approvals for individual shipments. For organizations moving equipment across multiple countries and carriers, this certification simplifies fleet wide deployment.
Connectivity is provided through 4G Cat 1bis networks with automatic 2G fallback, helping maintain coverage across a broad range of global regions.
Bluetooth sensing expands visibility
The Griffin Air goes beyond traditional GPS tracking by acting as a Bluetooth 5.2 gateway.
It can collect information from nearby BLE sensors and tags, enabling organizations to monitor temperature sensitive cargo, identify assets, and collect operational data without installing additional communications hardware.
The platform also supports configurable impact, tilt, and rotation alerts that can notify operators when cargo may have been mishandled during transport. These capabilities make the tracker suitable for pharmaceutical logistics, aerospace equipment, reusable transport containers, and other high value industrial assets where environmental monitoring is as important as knowing location.
Industry perspective
Rather than simply introducing another GPS tracker, Digital Matter appears to be targeting a long standing weakness in global supply chains by eliminating the traditional compromise between airline compliance and continuous asset visibility.
The automatic transition between flight mode and normal operation is arguably the product’s strongest engineering achievement because it removes manual procedures that frequently create operational delays or compliance risks. Combined with multi year battery life and Bluetooth sensor integration, the Griffin Air positions itself as a lifecycle asset management platform rather than a shipment specific tracker.
As logistics networks become increasingly multimodal and data driven, solutions that combine location, condition monitoring, and operational automation into a single device are likely to become the new benchmark for enterprise asset tracking.
About Digital Matter
Founded in 2001 and headquartered in Perth, Western Australia, Digital Matter develops low power GPS and IoT asset tracking hardware used across transportation, mining, construction, agriculture, logistics, and industrial sectors. The company supplies tracking devices to customers in more than 120 countries through a global network of telematics and IoT partners, with its portfolio including battery powered asset trackers, hard wired fleet devices, Bluetooth gateways, and sensor enabled monitoring solutions designed for long term deployments.
