Cold-chain packages temperature tracking
Single load units temperature monitoring and real-time position tracking in temperature-sensitive goods transportation.
Ubiquicom’s solution uses a combination of communication and locating technologies to monitor the temperature values and position of the isothermal containers during each transportation phase.
THE CUSTOMER
The customer is one of the main reference companies in the industry of shipping and logistics services in the national and European territory.
With over a century of history, it has stood out due to its innovative shipping management technologies, and its continuous search for better ways to serve its customers.
THE REQUIREMENTS
The client had the need to monitor the position and interior temperature of thousands of isothermal containers for pharmaceuticals and food throughout the shipment.
The required solution was to allow the client to give the final customer guarantees on the condition of the goods during all stages of transport in an economically effective and sustainable way. It has been suggested to abandon the usual method of logging data on devices that are only downloaded after the journey is complete.
The system was obligated to put backup systems and architectures in place at every stage of the data flow to secure high service availability.
THE SOLUTION
The management of the cold chain applied to pharmaceutical and food logistics is difficult owing to the multiple criteria and requirements to be satisfied in terms of safety and quality standards that must be ensured to avoid the loss of primary goods.
The solution created is focused on the monitoring of the isothermal containers during the whole transport cycle, from picking up to the transition between branches where the isothermal box stands within refrigerated containers, to delivery at the final destination.
The solution, in particular, requires that each isothermal container be equipped with a sensor certified to UNI EN 12830:2001 for high-precision temperature monitoring as well as a long-lasting internal battery.
Sensors, which are low-cost, low-power, and highly reliable, collect information about the location of each container and its internal temperature at all times throughout transport.
The collected data is delivered in real time to the IoT cloud platform Ubiquicom Locator, which manages and analyses the entire flow of information, stores it, and sends alarms in the event of anomalies.
The following data is gathered and processed:
- Temperature History
- Historical positions of every container
- Alerts for temperature changes (exiting the fixed range)
- Parking alarms for extended periods of time.
Smart devices mounted on board vehicles, in hubs, in exchange zones, and in refrigerated cells receive and transmit data from sensors to software.
To ensure the continuity of the data acquired, the entire architecture of the solution has been created with several levels of temporary data storage, allowing them to be preserved in the event of a disconnection and delivered afterward to the platform when the connection is restored.
Ubiquicom Locator platform takes in data from multiple sources to accurately reconstruct the thermal curve that each load has been exposed to, regardless of its location, effortlessly and with great precision.
Additionally, real-time alarms for out-of-threshold values are managed based on configured tolerances and limits. Each piece of data obtained is linked to information on the refrigeration unit in which the container is housed (truck, refrigerator cell, isothermal rack, etc.) and the relative position.
The calculation of location is done with GNSS technology in outdoor areas for the accurate locating and monitoring of assets, and BLE location system or cell base for indoor areas.
RESULTS
The customer was able to gain the following benefi ts as a result of the implemented solution:
- The certification to the end customer that the cold chain has not been disrupted;
- Accurate monitoring of the location and temperature of each individual container;
- The ability to manage any criticisms and anomalies in real-time and avoid the decay of goods;
- The generation of reports and statistics of all telemetry data and events related to eachcontainer;
- Data analysis tools for continuous service improvement.
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