The cold chain is essential for snack and bakery companies that produce perishable products, as the temperature of these products must be monitored throughout the distribution process. In order to get into customers’ hands safely, the temperatures must be managed from the beginning of the process through the very end.

“By consistently monitoring the temperature of their valuable products, snack and bakery companies can reduce the risk of losing product that may spoil along the cold chain, should the temperatures fluctuate,” says Nate Kraft, vice president and general manager, Traceable, Webster, TX. “Spoiled products equal reduced capital, increased spending in possible recalls, and manufacturing additional product, so a small investment in monitoring can positively impact a business’s bottom line,” he recommends.

Refrigeration system controls provide users with the greatest capability to manage their refrigeration’s energy usage, while also ensuring safety for the people and product, says Antonio De Lourdes, director of business development, Logix Controls, Kirkland, WA.

Amy Childress, vice president of marketing and sales, cargo solutions, Emerson Cargo Solutions, Boise, ID, says it’s important for snack and bakery companies to understand that the cold chain industry is undergoing a major transformation in how transportation and logistics programs are managed. “Historically, temperature and location tracking capabilities have been essential tools for enabling stakeholders to respond to temperature excursions as they occur and validate quality on receipt. Today, continuing advancements in software and data analytics technologies are accelerating the transition from reactive cold chain management practices toward more proactive, data-driven insights.” 

Company: Bluline Solutions

Website: https://blulinesolutions.com

Logistics Snapshot: Bluline Solutions has launched IdentiCool, the world’s first gel-encased wireless temperature sensor, that is formulated with thermal inertia properties so it can be a digital twin of any product’s internal temperature. “Bluline Solutions has experienced significant business growth in the past two years due to onboarding many new customers that were looking to reduce their operational costs by breaking free from paying recurring subscription fees. Bluline Solutions can save our customers on average $3,000 per year from avoiding subscription fees while allowing them to reclaim over 300 work hours per year from eliminating manual temperature measurement,” says Hornsby.

Top Features:

• Identicool can improve decision-making process for safety and quality of food products
• Allows you to adjust cold storage temperatures in order to save on energy costs
• Ideal for live-monitoring applications where there are temperature fluctuations due to frequent door-opening events or unmanageable defrost cycles

Company: Emerson Cargo Solutions

Website: https://climate.emerson.com

Logistics Snapshot: Emerson is launching a new premium monitoring service for its Oversight digital analytics platform, transforming billions of aggregated sensor data points from GO loggers and trackers into insights customers can utilize to manage their cold chain more effectively.

“The cold chain is complex and comprised of various carriers, vendors, and third-party distributors, with thousands of pallets being distributed each day. The common question over the last decade is how to better interpret and utilize all of the data points collected from Emerson devices to enable better overarching supply chain decisions. Instead of reviewing and reacting to individual trips and alerts, companies can now identify trends from months and years of data through the new Oversight cargo services offering and potentially minimize or mitigate these occurrences from occurring in the future,” says Childress.

“Along the journey to proactive cold chain management insights, many discover weaknesses in their capabilities, of which they may not have been previously aware. These services help fill the gaps, shore up capabilities, and bring cold chain management to the next level,” says Childress.

Top Features:

• Oversight cargo services translates data into trends that are actionable
• Customers can choose one or more upgraded offerings:
  • Reports and Scorecards: Provides an interactive dashboard of mission-critical supply chain insights and analytics on aggregated trips on-demand. No-cost basic and fee-based premium dashboards are available.
  • Data Integration: Consolidates and automates separate data streams of shipment information into a third-party platform, so users can enjoy the unified system of their choice.
  • Managed Services: Leverages a team of Emerson cold chain experts to help monitor shipments 24/7/365. Carriers are contacted directly providing peace of mind and visibility into if products arrive safely and on time.
  • Professional and Consultative Services: Analyzes and helps identify cold chain gaps and pinpoints sources of cold chain issues before they occur via an on-site consultation and analysis.
  • Shipment Tracking: Provides customers and employees direct access to real-time shipment information and temperature data from any web-based portal.

Company: Logix Controls

Website: https://logix-controls.com

Logistics Snapshot: For 2022, Logix Controls is currently in the process of launching its new Industrial Refrigeration Control System (RCS) with increases capability and sustainability. “As a whole, supply chain issues and increased costs related to COVID-19 have negatively impacted the Industrial Refrigeration industry. Logix has been fortunate to sustain many of these issues and continue to supply its customers with industrial refrigeration controllers, along with continuing to innovate as we designed and produced the new Axiom III Processor and Industrial CO2 system controller, both to be launched early 2022,” says De Lourdes.

“Logix Controls’ RCS provides a holistic approach to controlling cold storage warehouses and processing plants by providing coordinated control amongst all the refrigeration equipment within the facility, rather than each piece of equipment functioning separately, and out of sync. Also, Logix’s RCS controller provides our customers with capability to not only communicate with every piece of equipment within the refrigeration system, but also allows for users to communicate with, and possibly control, other equipment within the facility along with providing a means to communicate with cloud-based technologies for AI and Iot needs. All this can be utilized to provide snack and bakery better sustainability as well,” he notes.

Top Features:

• RCS now comes with upgraded Axiom III processor, providing more I/O capacity per controller panel, which means a smaller upfront cost
• Easy integration with modern AI and IoT platforms
• Can deliver high efficiency and safety for industrial ammonia refrigeration; new RCS will have full capacity to control these applications with CO₂ as a refrigerant
• Lower carbon footprint for users

Company: Savoye

Website: www.savoye.com

Logistics Snapshot: Savoye’s X-PTS shuttle system is a robust, modular, and flexible solution for stocking and de-stocking heavy and freezing loads.

“The past two years have created significant growth due to our focus in the ecommerce, distribution and parcels sectors. Savoye’s focus in end-to-end automation through advanced hardware and software solutions support plays a key role in supporting the sectors that are experiencing growth and labor challenges,” says Zac Dieter, vice president, enterprise software & operations excellence, North America.

“Implementation of advanced software and automated material handling solutions reduce reliance on people to control, plan and manage inventory and orders. This brings stability and efficiency to the management of resources and inventory while increasing the ability to meet customer service and delivery expectations,” says Dieter.

Top Features:

• X-PTS combines heavy load metrics and freezing temperatures metrics into a single unit
• Can deliver 55 kg loads inside a freezing environment (-28°C)

Company: Traceable

Website: www.traceable.com

Logistics Snapshot: “Traceable products compatible with TraceableLIVE provide users with 24/7 visibility and real-time notifications of their critical environments, reducing the risk of loss due to undesirable conditions. Users are alerted via email, text and voice notifications whenever conditions exceed the user-configured parameters, so they can quickly take action to rectify an issue. Additionally, these products support a variety of convenient maintenance reminders to ensure the monitoring never skips a beat including battery alerts, calibration notifications, and connectivity issues,” says Kraft.

“In addition, Traceable has supported and continues to support companies in many industries that use the cold chain by helping them keep temperatures safe with our many temperature products and digital data loggers.”

Top Features:

• TraceableLIVE cloud monitoring service now features voice notification escalation and a first of its kind integration with Apple Watch for monitoring devices
• More intuitive dashboards, which can be customized by each user
• Traceable temperature data loggers compatible with TraceableLIVE cloud monitoring service help keep foods, vaccines, and any cold-chain item safe