Minimize risk of loss and fulfill regulations with cold chain sensors in all cargo shipments that requires specific temperature settings or levels. These essential tools for all types of transport make a huge difference when it comes to tracking and monitoring a wide variety of products and materials. They provide real-time data so you always know the conditions surrounding your cargo. In order to get the temperature monitoring capabilities you need, it helps to get cold chain sensors from highly respected IoT device manufacturers.
In order to learn how you can protect shipments of food, medical goods, electronics, and more, understand what cold chain sensors do, how they work, and the important role they play in cold supply chain logistics.
What Do Cold Chain Sensors Do?
The world’s interconnectivity and access to digital communication channels make cold chain sensors a simple yet essential part of any supply chain that handles products that need specific temperature levels. These Internet of Things (IoT) devices gather information about temperature, humidity, and other things and relay them back to an in-house monitoring system. This immediate notification of problems also makes it possible to fix them instead of waiting for spoiled produce or destroyed medical products at the end of the shipment period. Some of the sensors also track GPS location, movement, speed, light levels, and falls or sudden jolts that may also damage sensitive products.
The three most important things that cold chain sensors to is protect your freight loads from spoilage and destruction. This reduces cost, waste, inefficiency, and the risk to your brand’s reputation. As every supply chain has multiple steps and controlling stakeholders along the way, full delivery of usable items in proven condition is the ultimate goal if you want to keep everyone satisfied. Delays and especially the need to send an entire new shipment will seriously damage reputation and possibility of profits.
How Do These Devices Work?
The first thing to understand about these digital sensors is that they work so much better than old methods of managing temperature and humidity. In the past, these things were handled by the person packed the cargo, drove the truck, or received the shipment on the other end. An ordinary thermometer and hygrometer, which measures humidity, would sit near the cargo. The person would record the numbers on a chart or in a spreadsheet. Human error could affect the outcome for temperature sensitive products in a big way.
Today’s cold chain sensors are small yet powerful devices that measure multiple data sets and sends the information back to the office or logistics center in real time if it is close enough. Bluetooth sensors are available. Some also have USB plug in capabilities much like a thumb drive that can give full access at the end of the shipping process itself.
What Products Need Cold Chain Monitoring?
When most people think of temperature-controlled shipments, they think of food products first. It is true that these are some of the most sensitive items that need careful monitoring to keep them safe for human consumption. This includes produce, which can spoil rapidly in the wrong conditions, frozen and refrigerated food, which must align with FDA and other regulations for safety, and fresh items like bread or other prepared food products. Far too much food gets thrown out every year due to disruptions in the cold chain supply. In fact, the United Environment Programme reports 1.3 billion tons of food spoils every year around the world.
Another huge collection of products that require careful temperature monitoring and control comes from the medical industry. For example, the latest Covid-19 vaccines require shipping at amazingly low temperatures or they will not work to protect people’s health. The same holds true for other vaccinations, medications, blood, plasma, and other similar things. Not only is the expense of a ruined shipment of medical items excessive, but it can seriously impact the health and well-being of people at the end of the supply chain.
Electronics also require careful control of temperature and humidity. Also, some industrial machinery, chemicals, and a variety of other products or materials need better oversight. This is what cold chain sensors provide for the entire shipping and handling process.
Protect Your Cold Chain Cargo
No matter what type of product or materials you ship, if they require precise temperature levels to reach their destination while maintaining quality, you need cold chain sensors included in every shipment. These small and affordable devices cannot only give you the data needed to comply with FDA and other regulations, they also protect your cargo from spoilage, destruction, or unsafe conditions. This can save you tons of money every year and prevent a lot of wasted time and energy.
The person who buys a bag of apples, a frozen dinner, a new laptop battery, or an over-the-counter medication at the very end of the supply chain process may know nothing about the type of sensors you choose to include in the cargo shipments. However, they will appreciate the faster delivery, lower costs, and increased trust that the entire supply chain handled product they purchased to the most exacting standards. These cold chain sensors protect your cargo and the people who use the products and materials at the end of the logistics process.
Cold chain sensors for temperature sensitive shipments are an essential tool in the process of monitoring certain products and materials. The last thing any manufacturer or logistics company wants is a break in the cold chain shipping and handling process. Including these simple sensors in freight packaging gives a layer of protection against spoilage and damage.
Most importantly, the data collected and sent in real time provides necessary information to ensure compliance with regulations and receipt and delivery of the highest quality and unaffected items at the end of the supply chain journey. The multiple options offered by EELink give you the tools you need to manage cold sensitive shipments.