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Real-Time Cold Chain monitor (RTCCM)

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The Real-Time Cold Chain monitor market is segmented based on components into hardware and software. Software solutions utilized in cold chain monitoring applications add huge value to the overall monitoring system. These solutions provide data management and analytical support for monitoring the cold chain. This helps in real-time actionable data being available to relevant parties involved in the cold chain, thereby increasing efficiency and reducing wastage
Along with all of the other constraints and complexities associated with transporting goods, Cold Chain logistics activities require strict adherence to maintaining temperature between thresholds for each delivery. Monitoring humidity is required in perishables transportation, complying with manufacturers' thresholds. Not doing so, or not having the ability to prove that you’ve done so, can disqualify valuable shipments and leave you with unhappy customers, damaged goods and in breach of service level agreements. The world of cold chain supply is forecasted to introduce stricter regulations in the coming years, driven both by the pharma-industry, regulatory bodies and the food industry – requiring even greater oversight.

With tools that ensure compliance with GDP (Good Distribution Practices) that regulates the pharma industry, and EN 12830 (European standards) for transportation of deep-frozen and quick-frozen food and ice cream, solutions for cold chain logistics should effectively monitor cargo condition. Monitor single or multi-compartment refrigerated trailers up to single pallets, with options for audible in-cab alarms, as well as to the control room, reporting deviations in pre-defined humidity or temperature thresholds.

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Market Size

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According to the new market research report "Cold Chain Monitoring Market by Component (Hardware (Sensors and Data Loggers) and Software), Application (Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare, Food & Beverages, and Chemicals), Logistics (Storage and Transportation), and Region - Global Forecast to 2023", The cold chain monitoring market is expected to grow from USD 3.80 billion in 2018 to USD 6.46 billion by 2023, at a CAGR of 11.17% between 2018 and 2023. The growth of the cold chain monitoring market can be attributed to the increasing demand for temperature-sensitive drugs, rising demand for better food quality and need to reduce food wastage , growing demand for generic drugs owing to higher accessibility and growing governmental focus on issuing policies impacting the supply chain efficiency of fast-growing pharmaceuticals sector in Europe and North America.

(Source: Grand View Research)

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What value do Real-Time Cold Chain monitor systems provide to cold chain logistics professionals?

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Data should be gathered by the wireless connected gateway, sensors and monitoring equipment to as real-time monitoring or ‘near real-time’.  

This data combined with GPS data and timestamp, this may contribute to GDP and GMP guidelines for food and pharmaceutical industries, Only relevant data should be collected, having too much data may also pose challenges if not managed properly.

Full-spectrum of functionality should be implemented to manage cold chain logistics, ensuring adherence to the strictest protocols and regulations.
Address issues in real-time, to prevent and mitigate the risk and loss from disqualified transports.
Advanced reporting capabilities prove to customers, partners, and regulators that all conditions have been maintained and met during every step of the distribution path.

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Which KPIs are crucial in Real-Time Cold Chain monitor technology?
 

For temperature-sensitive products, it is important to have a complete detailed history of the products as they travel through the logistics supply chain and in storage.

With continuous monitoring, for large fleets and distribution networks, this potentially generates huge sets of data, so what’s important therefore is that the data is analyzed according to key performance indicators (KPIs) for that particular product.
It needs to simply answer questions like “Was the correct temperature maintained at all times?” or, “What is the financial value of the loss resulting from a temperature excursion that happened?”, “Which impact have a short time out of range measure?”

Manage by Exception — with Alert and Alarms raised only if the pre-defined temperature or humidity thresholds are breached in any particular compartment.

Advanced Reporting — that helps you prove compliance and facilitates smooth ‘handshakes’ between the various stakeholders along the logistical route.

Real-time Alerts — allows you to mitigate the potential of damaged or disqualified cargo, giving you the ability to address issues as they arise.

Preventing and maintenance — allows you to mitigate the potential of damage from device outage

Dashboards related to the KPIs should be quickly accessible. All the management needs to know is whether their delivered product is safe, and to be assured that the detailed data is available as required for reporting purposes.

This is particularly important as the new EU guidelines on GDP provide more guidance on temperature control.  In chapter 9 of the guidelines, it is noted that required storage conditions for medicinal products should be maintained during transportation, and a responsible person must be contactable at all times, to provide assurance of product integrity.

Ultimately, monitoring is carried out to ensure patient safety and food safety. But for organizations like pharmaceutical, food and third-party logistics companies, it’s how you read and interpret that data that matters.  It is also important that this data links into the business intelligence systems overall to provide the assurances required by regulators and end-customers.
 

That data needs to be presented in a way that assures companies that their products meet GDP and GMP guidelines as well as meet health and safety requirements. It also needs to assure patients of the quality of medicines and food and to be able to trust that it is has reached them in a condition that is safe to consume.

Data monitoring, therefore, involves more than just collecting the data. Ideally, manufacturers and logistics companies should be thinking about data integration – how data is collected, monitored, analyzed and presented; and how it integrates into the overall business intelligence system or ERP (enterprise resource planning) system.

If easy to read dashboards with important KPIs or metrics are displayed rather than just raw data, management is able to focus on their core expertise and not worry about the data collection and reporting aspect. The data can be gathered and analyzed using the appropriate technology, with relevant visual representations to give a clear view of their cold chain performance – without having to delve into large sets of figures. In more simple words, the dashboards should provide you with answers to the questions that are important to your business, instead of just showing the data.

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