When was the last time you curbed a craving for a fruit, just because it wasn’t in the season? Or, have you ever thought that the non-domestic fruit you just bought, where it came from? How it actually landed in your cart? Well, somebody is thinking hard to figure out all these questions. Yes, that somebody is transport software solutions provider. Manufacturers and retailers are taking help of cold supply chains to cross the boundaries of countries and even continents for delivering fresh eatables and pharma essentials to consumers. Transport software solutions are taking up the challenges of supplying perishable and fragile commodities to the far-flung areas without compromising on their freshness. Farm-fresh veggies are not only a catchy phrase, it is a testament which shows that transport software solutions have evolved up to a level that distance is not an obstacle anymore if you got the right setup.

In the UK, around 27% monthly grocery shopping is conducted via e-commerce portals.
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Rising living standard of the middle class across the world has evolved into creating few new yet profitable markets for retailers and manufacturers. But there are few challenges too. The rising demand for the perishable food and pharma items needs to be tackled differently than the normal supply chain goals. To suffice the demand for similar products, a cold supply chain model is practiced. In this model transport software solutions needs to ascertain that the goods are transported under the needed temperature and pressure conditions. This is to ensure that the goods are still fresh by the time it reaches the consumers. Since failing on any of this objective directly hampers the quality of the goods, it involves higher risks of loss on account of damaged or stalled goods. We are looking into the specific transport software solutions which are making these hard tasks possible.

Sample Storage Temperatures

Storage temperatures for commodities

*Source: http://trade.gov/topmarkets/pdf/Cold_Chain_Top_Markets_Report.pdf

The need of efficient transport software solutions to sustain cold supply chain

In the UK, around 27% monthly grocery shopping is conducted via e-commerce portals. With a steady growth in the segment, by 2020, the same demand is expected to reach $ 23 billion. The retailers are already offering same-day delivery options. Amazon in coalition with major UK grocery store has already laid down its plans to expand same day delivery reach. This further suggests that the transporters and e-commerce portals are not leaving any stone unturned in order to replace the nearest supermarket as a viable option for purchasing even perishable eatables with a short time period for delivery.

By 2020, the e-commerce grocery market is expected to reach $ 23 billion.
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Here, the most important thing to notice is the constraints of time which impose the challenge of timely delivery more strictly over the transporters. Failing to deliver under the stipulated time period for the pharma and eatables can result in much worse outcomes than penalty or order delay. Order cancellation or partially accepted orders can quickly corrode the revenues for any retailer if their transport software solutions are not smart enough to understand the profitable timeline for each consignment. The need to ship the orders under that feasible timeline is not a choice for them, it is the only way to go for the retailers. Thus to further broaden the chances and timeline for shipping these perishable items, retailers and manufacturers often resort to the most effective transport software solutions for the cold supply chain.

How much smart transport software solutions add in cold supply chain

As much as the prompt dispatch and route planning contributes to the successful delivery in cold supply chain, monitoring and telematics also play crucial roles. Transporters are laying more emphasis on effective monitoring for pressure and temperature stats to analyze the viable point of time and distance for the drop of a consignment. The analysis is able to deliver key insights about the viable transit period for the items for which the consignment still proves to be profitable for shipping. This has educated the transporters to commit for more realistic deadlines and delivery points thus minimizing the loss of goods and revenue.

Monitoring in cold supply chain for in-transit shipments is nowadays performed with the help of cutting edge sensors which can transmit the temperature and pressure statistics to the operation center via the cloud. This is currently carried over stand alone temperature recording devices which are useful for sending, saving and analyzing the transportation data via Dedicated Short Range Communication (DSRC) system. This helps in reducing the temperature related load rejection scenarios. These scenarios are the major cause of spoilage claims and redelivery costs. Similarly, transport software solutions also contribute to reducing the dwell times and optimizing the reefer performance.

Transport software solutions also help in ensuring that the transporters are adhering to major regulatory rules for food and pharma products. U.S. Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), Good Distribution Practice (European Directive 92/25/EEC) and Good Automated Manufacturing Practice (GAMP5) are the key compliance factors in the major markets. The adherence and proper implementation of the regulatory practices are ensured by real time monitoring facility which can also be programmed for container “Lockdown” scenario in case of theft threat.

One of the most acclaimed industry-wide trends in cold supply chain is the acceptance for “Smart Containers” which are equipped with the in-built machine to machine (M2M) communication systems. These containers are developed to tackle the issues which are generally out of the control for the retailers due to intermodal or maritime transportation involved. These containers are able to send the live data with real-time visibility of the location and status of the perishable shipments. This is aimed to serve the 59% claims of the shipment spoilage due to poor supplier handling, malfunctioning of reefer and wrong temperature set points.  

59% claims for shipment spoilage is due to poor supplier handling, malfunctioning of reefer and…
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The cold supply chain has a huge task of becoming more efficient by reducing the load spoilage of perishable items during transit. Annually the transporters and manufacturers combined incur a loss of 30% of the transported shipments of perishable items. The only way to curb this is to have greater control over the weak links of the cold supply chain by improving the monitoring and planning for the transportation cycles. With the help of smart and connected transport software solutions, we are aiming to achieve most robust and accurate monitoring mechanisms which are able to deliver the transport the consignments with minimum or zero wastage. Dreamorbit is helping the best logistics companies working in the cold supply chain to adopt similar transport software solutions and achieve minimal wastage in their operations.

About DreamOrbit:

DreamOrbit is a Logistics and Supply Chain Technology Development company. We have been creating meaningful and reliable software products for the industry which is “Always on the go” for the past half decade. We are highly motivated team aimed at innovation. Our philosophy is to “keep challenging the potential within”.  With the support of our happy customers and dedicated team, we strive to provide best possible solutions to industry problems. Visit our website to know more about DreamOrbit.

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