Automated core temperature measurements prevents losses

Strict requirements apply when it comes to the conditioned transport of food, medicines, chemicals, flowers, and so on. A transport temperature that is too high or too low can have far-reaching consequences for health or for the loss of goods. The automated core temperature solution developed by GPS-Buddy for conditioned food transport therefore complies with the hygiene code for food safety and visibility in the chain. "And the beauty of this solution is that - in contrast to manual measurement of the core, ambient and/or surface temperature - with this method the driver does not have to perform any manual actions," says Daniel Engelberts, Transport Consultant at GPS-Buddy. "This saves time and mistakes and prevents loss of cargo due to pricking in the product." 

PILOT WITH CORE TEMPERATURE MEASUREMENT

The automated solution for core temperature measurement - which is called CoreT Fleet - came about in cooperation with the customer Huuskes, a total partner for food & beverages in the healthcare sector in Enschede, The Netherlands. This company supplies healthcare institutions, hospitals, and corporate caterers with meals and groceries on a daily basis, using 90 trucks from four distribution centres. Harrie Reink, logistics manager at Huuskes, explains: "Temperature management is a critical issue for us. The temperature of the products we transport in our vehicles must be continuously monitored and controlled. The measurements deviated too much from reality because we could only measure the temperature of the cargo space. Together with our technology partner GPS-Buddy, we looked for a good solution to this. The process is now fully automated.

DISCUSSION

Engelberts adds: "The problem Huuskes presented to us is an issue that comes up in discussions with several customers. The usual measurement methods only measure the ambient or surface temperature. They only show peaks and troughs in the results. This is due to the fact that when the refrigerated load compartment is opened, outside air enters and influences the temperature curve. The peaks and troughs do not have an extreme effect on the core temperature, but they do lead to discussions with customers or even to rejection of delivered batches. The algorithm we use makes accurate calculations based on parameters such as mass, type of packaging, moisture and fat content combined with time of loading, temperature of loading, air humidity, etc. This gives a realistic picture of the core temperature development from loading to unloading and prevents much discussion." 

MATHEMATICAL CALCULATION MODEL

"Huuskes' request was in line with existing developments at our company," says Ties Schaafsma, ceo at GPS-Buddy. "By using our proven hardware in combination with an intelligent mathematical calculation model, we developed this certified solution that can be accessed via our Driver App. With or without a link to the customer's existing TMS application, it is possible to share reports with the customer. In addition, we give the customer the possibility to act proactively towards his own customer, which increases customer satisfaction."

COOPERATION

The cooperation between Huuskes and GPS-Buddy has existed for almost twenty years and once started with a truck tracking system. Huuskes now uses various GPS-Buddy modules, including a vehicle monitoring system, trip analysis and the link with the daily delivery from the ERP system, maintenance planning management with statutory inspections, the tachograph module and the driving style analysis of the drivers. All this, according to Reink, is "as digital as possible to meet specific requirements and minimise the administrative burden".