How to Maintain End-to-End Cold Chain System Integrity
Collaboration among key stakeholders is paramount for ensuring the long-term success of temperature-controlled operations in the cold chain. Establishing clear processes and expectations is essential, along with fostering a culture of data sharing. Utilizing a shared cloud platform enables stakeholders to access relevant shipment information, promoting transparency and facilitating proactive measures to prevent waste and inefficiencies.
To achieve enduring success in temperature-controlled logistics, a harmonious blend of collaboration, expertise, and technology is crucial. This synergy helps mitigate risks and ensures positive outcomes for all parties involved in the cold chain. The ultimate goal is to deliver a safe, high-quality product to the end consumer.
For third-party logistics and similar entities, maintaining end-to-end cold chain integrity is a primary objective, particularly for products requiring refrigeration to remain safe for consumption. Even a slight deviation in temperature during transportation can render products unsafe, posing risks like food poisoning or severe health issues if not addressed before distribution.
Outlined below are some best practices to uphold the integrity of the cold chain from end to end.
Precooling Inventory
Post harvest precooling of fresh produce inventory before storage and transport reduces risk of microorganism growths, early maturation and unfavourable temperatures in product.
There are 5 main methods for precooling produce:
Room Cooling
Cydro-cooling
Vacuum Cooling
Ice Cooling
Forced-air Cooling
Precooling increases the shelf-life of fresh produce. Higher quality and longer shelf-life means more profits to produce growers.
Monitor and Maintain Trailer Temperature During Transport
Employing temperature tracking software with transport units helps assist logistic companies in monitoring and maintaining the optimal temperature required of unique fruit and vegetable groups.
The drivers or other transportation individuals need to monitor the temperature in their truck trailers or other means of transport to ensure that the quality of the fresh produce products has not deteriorated between the storage and retail points of the post harvest cycle.
Unfortunately, a lot of distribution channels hand over fresh produce supplies that present well yet are greatly affected by their travel conditions. This results in the buck being past to retail and consumer recipients. A large amount of food waste is technically food loss that has unknowingly being passed along the supply chain before showing any signs of product failure.
Proper Packaging
Since each product of the cold chain varies in its specific needs, the correct packaging is imperative to assist with maintaining its ideal temperature. This involves more than their outer containers and may range from dry ice to gel packs for the inner packaging.
Sustainable packaging is the latest initiative that a lot of cold chain stakeholders are implementing, both in the forms of reusable packaging and biodegradable single-use packaging.
Maintain Optimal Storage Conditions
When fresh produce is shipped away from suppliers to a storage facility, it is at this point in the cold chain system that those product supplies will spend a majority of their time so it is of upmost importance that the environmental conditions of the storage facilities by optimised, controlled and maintained. This means all efforts must be made to swiftly check shipments into their allotted storage space and then have the space be secured in order to cut down on atmosphere disturbance, unnecessary handling and human error.
With the assistance of a device like PostHarvest’s Environmental Sensor being mounted within the storage space, the API integration can then communicate with scrubbers, filtration systems and temperature controlled technology in order to maintain optimal conditions for the fresh produce supplies and alert facility staff to an irregularities and forecast optimal delivery times.
Internet of Things (IoT) Monitoring
Not surprisingly, cold chains can break down due to mechanical failures, traffic delays, human error and even theft. But with IoT-enabled cold chain solutions, issues like these can be addressed in real time and the entire logistics and supply chain infrastructure can respond as a single synchronised ecosystem.
The incorporation of IoT systems within the cold chain allows for end-to-end visibility of perishable products. The establishment of traceability and transparency for fresh produce supplies journeying through the system allows for stakeholders in the cold chain system to stand by their reports and the quality of the product they’re delivering to retail and consumers.
Ship Cold Chain Products at the Right Temperature
All products in the cold chain must also be shipped to clients at the proper temperature from their storage warehouses. Failure to do so will cause issues with the products and lead to client dissatisfaction.
Order Recipients Also Must Keep the Products at the Correct Temperatures
The last step in the cold chain is for order recipients to maintain the proper product temperatures. Even at this point, products can be ruined by failing at this step.
Fresh produce supplies depend on the reliability of a cold chain, a temperature-controlled supply chain in which a consistent and safe low-temperature range is maintained throughout a product’s transport.
An unbroken cold chain system, which is essential to keep fresh produce products safe to consume, tracks and ensures their quality at every point in the journey, from supplier to end consumer. It involves an uninterrupted series of refrigeration production, storage and distribution activities, equipment and logistics.
Ultimately, maintaining and tracking optimal temperature and environmental conditions for fresh produce supplies at each stage of the cold chain system will see to the integrity of the system holding up long-term.