Pleasanton, California, US: Collaborative working by DeltraTrak, Deutsche Telekom IoT, and Ericsson, has produced a method to ensure worldwide cold chain shipments, including food and vaccines, maintain proper and safe temperatures with real-time conditions data.
14% of food is lost in the supply chain between post-harvest and wholesale, per the United Nations Environment Programme. This exacerbates world hunger, raises costs and impacts food producers like farmers and fishermen, who are paid only for the amount of product that arrives in saleable condition. Food loss also has a negative impact on the environment, taking into account the considerable amount of water that is used to produce food which will never reach the consumer. DeltaTrak solutions, powered by Ericsson IoT Accelerator and Deutsche Telekom IoT connectivity, were designed to resolve these issues.
More edible food
The number of undernourished people in the world grew by roughly 150 million between 2019 and 2022, per the United Nations. While many countries and agencies send relief to those in need, a significant amount of food spoils while in transit.
More viable vaccines
According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), a quarter of vaccines and one-fifth of temperature-sensitive biopharmaceutical products arrive unusable due to their handling during transport. Better cold-chain management greatly reduces these numbers.
Less environmental impact
Statistics from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), state that food loss and waste in the United States alone results in 170 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent – equal to the CO2 emissions of 42 coal-burning power plants. This amount does not take into consideration the methane emissions produced by wasted food sent to landfills, which is more potent than carbon dioxide.
Founded in 1989 and headquartered in Pleasanton, California, DeltaTrak is a cold chain management and temperature monitoring solutions. The company’s products are used globally by food/food safety, pharmaceutical/life science, floral, chemical, aerospace and industrial organizations.
DeltaTrak’s solutions and services include FlashLink wireless sensors which monitor environmental conditions such as temperature and humidity, while also providing real-time location tracking. DeltaTrak’s cloud-based platform, FlashTrak, enables cold-chain management and analysis. These services are used to support compliance, traceability, validation and quality assurance programs.
DeltaTrak products help to ensure that critical items like food and vaccines get to where they are needed in order to benefit the greatest amount of people.
The challenge
Every day, the cold chain is used to transport move food, vaccines, and pharmaceutical materials, such as plasma, from where they are produced to where they are needed. Once they leave the farm, manufacturing facility or warehouse, the clock starts ticking. The products need to get to their destinations quickly, but also under very strict environmental conditions – remaining cold or frozen. If the conditions are not maintained throughout the entire journey, these precious commodities can be declared spoiled or unusable and will not clear customs at the designated port of entry.
Per the United Nations, 14% of food produced globally arrives at its destination unsafe for consumption due to how it was handled along the way. Much of this food is destroyed. And yet, Action Against Hunger, a humanitarian organization whose focus is malnourised children, found that roughly 828 million people lack access to sufficient food.
During the initial Covid-19 surge, global distribution of critical vaccines was needed. Some required refrigeration, others required freezing. Data from the International Air Transport Association indicated that a quarter of the vaccines being transported arrived unusable due to improper temperature conditions during transit.
On any given day, millions of DeltaTrak sensors are at work around the globe tracking the locations of refrigerated containers (and other supply chain vessels), and monitoring the real-time temperature and humidity within those containers.. The data generated by the company’s sensors must be available in real-time, to help shippers address temperaturechanges immediately, before spoilage occurs.
DeltaTrak needed a way for their sensors to be trackable andtraceable, while continuously transmitting data in real-time – straight from the box.Sensors needed to operate without interruptions in connection orcoverage,regardless of location in the world.
The solution
DeltraTrak partnered with Deutsche Telekom IoT, one of the world’s leading integrated communications service providers (CSP) with coverage in more than 50 countries, and Ericsson, a leading network and IoT platform provider. Deutsche Telekom IoT delivers global cellular connectivity and the SIM cards needed for DeltaTrak’s devices to easily come online and communicate.
Data is collected and device connections are managed by the Ericsson IoT Accelerator, an award-winning global IoT (Internet of Things) platform. IoT Accelerator enables cost-efficient IoT connectivity management and operations for enterprises of all sizes, using the secure, scalable and standardized worldwide mobile network infrastructure. DeltaTrak selected Ericsson’s IoT Accelerator for several reasons, including the easy SIM management and Trigger Management features, which can automatically pause SIM operations after a set period of time to reduce unnecessary connectivity spend. SIMs can also be quickly reactivated, enabling reuse, toreduce further environmental impact.
The result
DeltaTrak now has reliable, secure and cost-effective global connectivity. This is critical for their devices to monitor and report data to users, giving them the assurance that their perishable products reached the destination, whilemeeting strict environmental requirements during transport.
With Deutsche Telekom’s global connectivity, DeltaTrak can be assured that sensors remain connected throughout the entire journey. DeltaTrak is able to collect data from millions of sensors worldwide, experience consistent performance without lapses in coverage or the need to negotiate roaming contracts in disparate regions. With DeltaTrak sensors, shippers can prove proper conditions were maintained, without opening the vehicle or container.
Business outcome
The availability of commoditized connected sensors like DeltaTrak’s, combined with global cellular connectivity are leading contributors to a reduction in worldwide food loss. A study by the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) cited technologies like those provided by DeltaTrak can help reduce grain spoilage losses, to as low as 1%-2%.
Other benefits include trade liberalization, government initiatives to reduce food waste and bilateral free trade agreements including the European Union Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which allows exporters in these regions to increase the trade of items like food without having to pay import duties.
Impact
DeltaTrak’s customers can now transport critical and perishable products via the cold chain and access real-time data to locate shipments and predict product quality. Customers have peace of mind knowingtheir goods arrived having met strict quality, regulatory and safety requirements, resulting in acceptance by customs officials and receivers.
DeltaTrak is helping to ensure more edible food arrives where it is needed, resulting in less food loss and the ensuing greenhouse gas emissions. The shelf life of produce can also be better estimated. More critical vaccinations, medicines and medical products will reach those who require them, reducing disease and improving health at a global level.
