Why Organizations Add ATEK Alongside ORBCOMM
When GI Partners acquired ORBCOMM for approximately $1.1 billion in 2021 and took the company private from NASDAQ, they bet on the future of industrial IoT for fleet logistics. That bet made sense: ORBCOMM had spent nearly three decades building a satellite and cellular platform that tracks over a million trucks, trailers, reefer containers, and heavy equipment across global supply chains. Their dual-mode connectivity reaches places where no cellular tower exists — ocean shipping lanes, remote mining sites, cross-border corridors. But when those fleet deliveries arrive at a pharmaceutical warehouse, a hospital pharmacy, or a food storage facility, ORBCOMM’s tracking job is done and a different monitoring challenge begins. That is where ATEK comes in.
Understanding ORBCOMM
ORBCOMM Inc. was founded in 1993 in Rochelle Park, New Jersey, as a pioneer in satellite-based IoT communications. The company built its own low-Earth-orbit satellite constellation specifically for machine-to-machine messaging, giving fleet operators a way to track assets in locations beyond cellular coverage. Over the following decades, ORBCOMM expanded into cellular connectivity, creating a dual-mode platform that automatically switches between satellite and cellular networks depending on availability. The company traded publicly on NASDAQ until GI Partners’ $1.1 billion acquisition in 2021 took it private, providing resources for continued investment without public market pressure.
Today, ORBCOMM’s platform manages fleet telematics, cold chain transport monitoring for reefer containers, trailer tracking, heavy equipment management, and regulatory compliance for transportation (ELD mandates, FSMA, CARB). Their 24/7 Network Operations Center (NOC) monitors fleet alerts globally, and their analytics platform provides predictive maintenance and operational insights for fleet operators managing thousands of mobile assets.
ORBCOMM’s recognized strengths include:
- Satellite + Cellular Dual Connectivity — ORBCOMM operates its own satellite constellation alongside cellular partnerships, providing tracking coverage in oceans, deserts, and remote corridors where pure-cellular IoT providers lose contact. This dual-mode capability is genuinely rare in the industrial IoT market and essential for global logistics operations
- Fleet Management at Industrial Scale — With over a million connected assets, ORBCOMM’s platform handles the complexity of tracking trucks across highway networks, reefer containers across ocean routes, and heavy equipment across job sites. Their decades of fleet data power predictive analytics that fleet managers rely on for maintenance scheduling and route optimization
- GI Partners Investment and Long-Term Focus — The $1.1 billion private equity acquisition removed quarterly earnings pressure and allowed ORBCOMM to invest in platform development for industrial IoT use cases without the short-term constraints of public markets
Common Challenges After Fleet Delivery
Organizations that rely on ORBCOMM for fleet and transport monitoring frequently encounter a critical gap when shipments reach their final destination:
- No facility monitoring capability: ORBCOMM’s platform is designed to track assets in motion — trucks on highways, containers on ships, equipment at remote sites. Once a temperature-controlled delivery arrives at a warehouse, pharmacy, or laboratory, ORBCOMM’s monitoring role ends, but the temperature-sensitive products inside still need continuous environmental oversight during storage
- Compliance framework mismatch for stationary environments: ORBCOMM’s regulatory compliance targets transportation mandates like ELD (Electronic Logging Device), FSMA (Food Safety Modernization Act for transport), and CARB (California Air Resources Board). Stationary facilities requiring FDA 21 CFR Part 11 compliance, electronic signatures, and ALCOA+ data integrity for stored pharmaceutical products need a fundamentally different regulatory framework
- Fleet-grade hardware not designed for facility installation: ORBCOMM’s satellite-enabled tracking devices are engineered to mount on trucks, bolt to containers, and withstand transit conditions. They are not designed for permanent installation in cleanrooms, pharmacy refrigerators, or laboratory environments where precision environmental monitoring and A2LA-accredited calibration are required
- NOC designed for fleet alerts, not facility excursions: ORBCOMM’s 24/7 Network Operations Center processes fleet telemetry — vehicle location, driver behavior, engine diagnostics, reefer unit status. A temperature excursion in a pharmaceutical cold room at 3 AM needs a response team that understands facility monitoring escalation protocols, not fleet dispatch workflows
- Pricing structured for fleet scale, not facility monitoring: ORBCOMM’s per-asset pricing with satellite connectivity fees and fleet-tier structures is engineered for organizations tracking hundreds or thousands of mobile assets. A facility monitoring deployment covering 20 pharmacy refrigerators or 50 cleanroom sensors does not fit that model
How ATEK Addresses the Facility Monitoring Gap
Purpose-Built Facility Monitoring: ORBCOMM was built to track mobile assets across continents. ATEK was built to monitor the environments where those assets deliver their cargo. Every feature — sensor placement optimization, room-level alarming, automated compliance reporting, calibration scheduling — addresses the specific requirements of pharmaceutical facility monitoring in labs, pharmacies, cleanrooms, and cold storage. There is no fleet telematics layer to work around, and no satellite uplink hardware required for a stationary building.
FDA 21 CFR Part 11 Compliance for Stationary Environments: ORBCOMM’s regulatory framework covers transportation mandates. ATEK’s covers the regulations that apply once products are inside a facility: FDA 21 CFR Part 11 with electronic signatures, complete audit trails, ALCOA+ data integrity, and IQ/OQ/PQ validation documentation. For organizations in pharmaceutical, biotech, or food and beverage environments, this is the compliance layer that fleet tracking simply does not provide.
5-Minute Live Response from Facility Monitoring Specialists: ORBCOMM’s NOC is staffed by fleet operations professionals who manage truck locations, reefer unit alerts, and driver compliance. When a facility cold room drops below threshold at 2 AM Eastern, ATEK’s Quebec-based monitoring team responds within five minutes with facility-specific expertise — understanding the difference between a pharmacy refrigerator excursion and a cleanroom humidity deviation, not a reefer unit compressor fault.
All-Inclusive Pricing Scaled for Facilities: ORBCOMM’s pricing model is designed for fleet operators tracking hundreds of trucks with satellite connectivity costs. ATEK’s per-monitoring-point pricing covers hardware, cloud platform, calibration, validation documentation, training, and 24/7 support for permanent facility installations. No satellite uplink fees, no fleet-tier pricing, no per-asset connectivity surcharges — just a straightforward rate per monitoring point in your building.
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Factor | ORBCOMM | ATEK | Advantage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fleet and mobile asset tracking | Satellite + cellular, 1M+ assets | Not offered | ORBCOMM |
| Fixed facility monitoring | Not offered | Purpose-built platform | ATEK |
| Global satellite coverage | Own LEO constellation | Not applicable | ORBCOMM |
| FDA 21 CFR Part 11 | Not applicable (transport) | Full compliance | ATEK |
| Container and reefer tracking | Core capability | Not offered | ORBCOMM |
| Calibration lab | Not applicable | A2LA-accredited in-house | ATEK |
| Support response | 24/7 NOC (fleet-focused) | 5-minute guarantee (facility-focused) | ATEK |
| Bilingual support (EN/FR) | Not available | Native French + English | ATEK |
| Predictive fleet analytics | Decades of fleet data | Not applicable | ORBCOMM |
| Canadian data hosting | Not specified | Canadian-hosted, PIPEDA-compliant | ATEK |
Who Benefits Most from Adding ATEK
- Pharmaceutical distribution centers already using ORBCOMM for reefer transport that need continuous environmental monitoring once temperature-controlled shipments arrive at warehouses and storage facilities — creating unbroken cold chain documentation from transport through storage
- Food and beverage facilities receiving fleet-tracked deliveries that lack a compliant monitoring system for walk-in coolers, freezers, and processing environments after ORBCOMM-tracked trucks complete their delivery routes
- Canadian facilities with bilingual requirements that need local support, Canadian data hosting, and French-language capabilities alongside their existing ORBCOMM fleet operations
Adding ATEK Alongside ORBCOMM
Rather than replacing ORBCOMM, most organizations add ATEK to cover the facility monitoring side of the supply chain. The implementation follows a straightforward approach:
- Gap assessment — We identify which monitoring points at your facility currently have no environmental monitoring coverage after ORBCOMM’s fleet tracking ends at the loading dock. This includes cold rooms, pharmacy refrigerators, laboratory environments, cleanrooms, and any storage area where temperature-sensitive products reside after delivery
- Facility deployment — ATEK wireless sensors install in your facility environments. Since ORBCOMM monitors mobile assets in transit and ATEK monitors stationary facility environments, there is no system overlap or conflict — each platform covers its own domain entirely
- Validation and compliance — Complete IQ/OQ/PQ documentation is included for all facility monitoring points. ATEK’s compliance framework covers FDA 21 CFR Part 11, Health Canada requirements, and provincial regulations specific to stationary storage — the regulatory areas that ORBCOMM’s transport-focused compliance does not address
- Operational integration — Your operations team gains coverage across the full supply chain: ORBCOMM provides fleet visibility from departure through delivery, ATEK provides facility monitoring from the loading dock through long-term storage. Many organizations find this complementary approach delivers more robust documentation than attempting to extend a fleet platform into facility monitoring duty
When ORBCOMM May Be the Right Fit
ORBCOMM is the right choice for organizations whose primary monitoring need is tracking mobile assets across global logistics networks. Their satellite and cellular dual connectivity, decades of fleet management data, and GI Partners-backed investment in industrial IoT are purpose-built for trucking companies, container shipping operations, heavy equipment fleets, and reefer transport logistics at scale. Organizations that need to know where their trucks are, whether their reefer containers are holding temperature during ocean transit, or when their heavy equipment needs maintenance will find ORBCOMM well-suited to those requirements.
When ATEK Is the Better Choice
Choose ATEK when you need:
- Continuous facility monitoring for the environments where ORBCOMM-tracked fleet deliveries are stored — covering labs, pharmacies, cleanrooms, and cold storage after the truck departs
- FDA 21 CFR Part 11 compliance with electronic signatures and ALCOA+ data integrity for stationary storage, beyond ORBCOMM’s transportation-focused ELD and FSMA compliance
- A2LA-accredited calibration from a Canadian lab for permanently installed facility sensors, rather than fleet-grade satellite telematics devices
- Facility-specific support response within five minutes from monitoring specialists who understand cold room excursions and cleanroom deviations, not fleet dispatch and driver compliance
- Bilingual support and Canadian data hosting for Quebec and Canadian facilities with PIPEDA and provincial privacy requirements
Start with a free assessment to see how ATEK complements your existing ORBCOMM fleet monitoring.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does ATEK replace ORBCOMM for supply chain monitoring?
No — ATEK and ORBCOMM serve different parts of the supply chain. ORBCOMM tracks mobile assets in transit (trucks, trailers, reefer containers, heavy equipment) using satellite and cellular connectivity. ATEK monitors facility environments where products are stored after delivery (labs, pharmacies, cold rooms, cleanrooms). Most organizations use both platforms together for complete supply chain visibility from transport through storage.
Can ORBCOMM’s fleet tracking devices monitor facility environments?
ORBCOMM’s hardware is engineered for mobile asset tracking — satellite-enabled devices that mount on trucks, bolt to containers, and communicate through their proprietary low-Earth-orbit constellation. These devices lack the facility-specific features required for stationary environmental monitoring: permanent room-level installation, FDA 21 CFR Part 11 compliance, automated compliance reporting, A2LA-accredited calibration for fixed sensors, and IQ/OQ/PQ validation documentation.
How does ATEK work alongside ORBCOMM operationally?
The two platforms cover non-overlapping domains. ORBCOMM tracks your fleet from origin to your facility’s loading dock. When the delivery arrives, ATEK’s facility monitoring covers the storage environment with real-time alerting, compliance documentation, and 24/7 support. Your operations team uses ORBCOMM for fleet and transport records and ATEK for facility environmental records, creating complete chain-of-custody documentation across both mobile and stationary environments.
Does ATEK meet the same regulatory standards as ORBCOMM?
ATEK and ORBCOMM address entirely different regulatory frameworks. ORBCOMM targets transportation regulations including ELD mandates, FSMA transport requirements, and CARB compliance for fleet emissions. ATEK provides FDA 21 CFR Part 11 compliance, electronic signatures, ALCOA+ data integrity, and IQ/OQ/PQ validation documentation for stationary facility monitoring. For Canadian facilities, ATEK also addresses Health Canada and provincial regulatory requirements that fleet tracking platforms do not cover.
Is ORBCOMM’s fleet platform overkill for monitoring a few facility rooms?
Yes. ORBCOMM’s satellite-enabled, fleet-grade infrastructure is designed for tracking thousands of mobile assets across global logistics networks. If your need is monitoring 10 pharmacy refrigerators, 30 cleanroom sensors, or 50 cold storage points in a facility, ATEK’s purpose-built platform provides the right-sized solution with facility-specific compliance, calibration, and support — without paying for satellite uplinks and fleet telematics you do not need.
How long does it take to deploy ATEK at a facility already using ORBCOMM for fleet tracking?
Typical facility monitoring deployments take 2-4 weeks per site, including sensor installation, validation, and IQ/OQ/PQ documentation. Since ATEK covers facility monitoring and ORBCOMM covers fleet tracking, there is no system migration or data transfer required — ATEK installs as a new, independent system that begins monitoring your facility environments from day one. Request a demo to discuss your specific facility requirements.