How can Cold Chain Monitoring help handle Supply Chain complexity Sustainably?

[grantreig]

In the Food & Beverage industry, one of the key concerns for companies is supply chain complexity. To improve visibility and reduce logistic costs, it is essential to digitize this supply chain and connect the different silos into a unified network on top of which different applications can be built, providing business intelligence.

Supply chains are also major contributors to environmental impact, and this has been reinforced by the COVID-19 pandemic and will be a priority in recovery plans.

So, how to manage supply chain complexity while trying to achieve energy and sustainability objectives?

This is even more crucial for Cold Chains to solve this equation to optimize supply chain logistics.

Delocalized assets also need to be monitored across this cold chain, such as beverages and ice cream coolers installed at different Point of Sales (PoS). How to ensure proper and efficient: 

• Assets tracking, prevention for stolen assets, optimisation for geographical distribution based on sales intelligence data

• Assets performance monitoring to ensure product safety, quality, and brand image

• Assets maintenance to control costs

Solutions such as our EcoStruxure platform and architecture support companies in doing so.

For instance, a suitable Cold Storage Monitoring solution combining hardware and software solutions able to build automated, intelligent, and refrigerated storage that is connected, efficient, and that saves energy. 

To optimize supply chain logistics to its maximum and guarantee cold chain, it leverages on Aveva Historian, a high-performance process database that allows to capture, and store huge volumes of industrial data generated from today’s industrial facilities. It combines advanced data storage and compression techniques with an industry-standard query interface to ensure open access to process, alarm, and event data. Therefore, Historian enables faster and more informed decisions while keeping teams fully informed on operational performance.

Connected products like Refrigeration Controllers, Low Voltage Switchgears or HVAC control complete other solutions to guarantee cold chain by helping efficiently manage assets tracking, performance, and maintenance.

This set of solutions offers numerous business values from a simplified supervision with easy integration to more secure, efficient, and effective operations. It also allows improved transparency thanks to automatic data generation, collection, processing, and management.

In addition, these solutions enable a 70%~80% reduction in labour requirements compared with traditional cold storage and a highly efficient energy usage with 25% reduction in energy consumption. Overall, this set of solution makes being compliant to HACCP requirements easier and guarantees Cold chain in a critical environment.

A real case to better understand the value of applying solutions for Cold Chain Monitoring can be found in Italy.

An Italian regional grocery retailer with 120 sales points was looking to secure the cold chain in a critical environment because of the hot temperatures in the south of Italy. The company was also faced with other challenges. They were trying to reduce annual maintenance costs in their remote locations, as well as saving energy and Operating Expenses (OPEX). The company was also struggling to learn how to use several systems with different user interfaces. 

The retailer chose EcoStruxure™ for Supermarkets as a solution including:

• EcoStruxure Building Operation: A building management system for smart and connected buildings that provides real-time insights and dashboards. This solution turns data from connected devices, sensors, and systems into actionable intelligence. It allows the monitoring, management, and control of building operations on one system.

• EcoStruxure Power Monitoring Expert: A purpose-built application for efficient power monitoring and energy management. This solution simplifies the management of complex power systems by bringing unique new capabilities that protect people and assets, keeps operations running and saves time and money hence maximizing uptime and operational efficiency.

• Eliwell food refrigeration system TelevisGo, a family of devices to monitor, control and manage remote commercial refrigeration installations and air conditioning systems. TelevisGo enables data logging, alarm management and remote access to network and device data, as well as efficient management of Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) data and maintenance operations.

In addition, they also selected connected products such as HVAC Control, Lighting Control, MV/LV & final distribution, capacitator banks, power meters, wiring devices & thermostats, NCO, UPS.

The implementation of these solutions offered numerous benefits to the company. Their energy usage was reduced, as well as Operation Expenses (OPEX). Cold chain was guaranteed in a critical environment, and the retailer achieved an easy to use and unique user interface. This resulted in 25% reduction of energy consumption.

Another available solution, specifically for connected coolers, is Eliwell TelevisAir Solution with TelevisAir CLOUD, a platform for cooler geolocation, data storage & analytics for cooler performance, alarm notification and cloud enabled services. It allows to view the geographic layout and general status of cooler network, access the individual cooler to verify the history of the stored data, as well as activate threshold alerting messaging for each variable of the cooler operation.

The Eliwell AIR app compatible with multiple operating systems is also available for smart local interface with the controller that allow the verification of various elements such as the status of the controller or the value of operating variables. The app also provides easy setting and support, as well as local data logging management.

These solutions provide many benefits such as: 

• Efficient asset tracking with the detection of cooler geolocation changes

• Better cooler performance through data storage & analytics and cooler performance checking during warranty period

• Optimized maintenance thanks to alert notification and HACCP reports

• Optimized supply chain logistics with shop visit itinerary, refilling logistics and fleet profitability 

For more on Cold Chain Monitoring and Energy & Sustainability in the Food & Beverage industry, join the discussion with experts in the dedicated Exchange Forum.