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Cold chain logistics can be a daunting term to shippers of temperature-sensitive goods. Medicines and perishable foods, such as dairy products and fresh produce, all face significant risks. A single temperature fluctuation can lead to issues with product quality, such as spoilage. This renders the shipment unusable, which results in wasted time, lost money, and disappointed customers.
Whether you ship frozen foods or pharmaceuticals, it’s important that you follow effective cold chain management strategies. These include everything from which type of packaging you use to the carrier and driver you pick. Additionally, it’s important that you have the right tools to help you monitor your temperature-sensitive products.
Here’s more about what you need to consider for an effective cold chain logistics strategy:
Essential elements of cold chain logistics
Specialized packaging
Specialized packaging plays a crucial role in maintaining the integrity of in-transit, temperature-sensitive products. Temperature-controlled packaging (TCP) utilizes insulated materials such as thermal blankets, gel packs, and dry ice. This type of packaging can reliably protect products from temperature deviations that could compromise quality and safety. It’s essential that shippers research packaging options and choose the solution that best fits their needs.
In-transit temperature control
Temperature control during transit is critical for preserving the quality of sensitive goods, particularly pharmaceuticals and perishable foods. This is why refrigerated trucks, commonly referred to as reefers, utilize advanced climate control systems. Ocean and air freight require similar technologies to ensure consistent temperature management. Shippers must understand how these different modes can impact their TTS shipments and plan accordingly.
Additionally, different locations can pose unique risks to TTS products. For example, hotter regions can create obstacles for cold storage and transport. Shippers should research the locations through which they’re transporting goods in order to plan for these potential difficulties.
Monitoring and risk management devices
The right packaging and right carrier are a good start for effective cold chain management. However, if you’re unable to track your shipments, you won’t be able to tell when something goes wrong. Shipments require a continuous stream of data to ensure that optimal conditions are maintained. In other words, shippers need to be able to spot temperature fluctuations as they happen so they can intervene when necessary.
Additional support for sensitive loads
A spoiled shipment can be just as detrimental to a company as a stolen one. For this reason, cold chain management is only the start of a secure solution for TTS products. To truly keep their shipments safe, shippers must also utilize tools to prevent cargo theft and other threats. These tools include everything from insurance to carrier validation technology.
How Overhaul’s cold chain logistics solution protects your cargo
Overhaul’s cold chain logistics solution offers a holistic approach to the security and integrity of TTS shipments. Our system provides continuous visibility over in-transit cargo, enabling real-time insights and rapid response capabilities. This level of oversight helps maintain the strict temperature controls required by cold chain logistics.
Utilizing advanced AI, we’re also able to analyze large volumes of historical data to identify trends and predict potential risk scenarios. This predictive analysis is crucial for preventing issues that could affect cargo quality, from temperature deviations to unauthorized access. Additionally, our AI-backed tools enable a responsive cold chain logistics process that adapts to new challenges as they arise. This ensures optimal outcomes for all shipments and their stakeholders.
Overhaul in action
Protecting baby formula shipments
In 2023, a logistics company had trouble keeping baby formula at the right temperature during hot summer months. They relied on outdated technology that did not provide real-time temperature data. As a result, they often had to return shipments that exceeded temperature thresholds, incurring high costs.
The company partnered with Overhaul to implement a real-time temperature monitoring solution. This new system allowed for continuous monitoring during transit, enabling immediate corrective actions which significantly reduced the incidence of rejected shipments. This partnership has improved the efficiency and effectiveness of the company’s logistics operations. In turn, it’s prevented the baby formula from spoiling and reduced transportation costs.
Enhance your cold chain solution today
Ensuring product quality is a must for shippers of food products, medications, and other temperature-sensitive goods. A single spoiled shipment can drastically effect not just your bottom line, but also your reputation and your customers’ trust. Additionally, certain products are difficult and costly to replace. Worse, if a company does not notice a temperature change, they might sell that product by mistake and make a customer sick.
Cold chain solutions cannot be taken lightly. Shippers in the food and pharmaceutical industries especially must ensure they’re doing all that they can to preserve product quality. But ensuring that their products stay within a set temperature range isn’t always easy. That’s why shippers depend on Overhaul to handle their cold chain logistics and overall in-transit security.
Learn more about how Overhaul can enhance your cold chain logistics solution.
