A cold chain solution or colder storage is vital for constructing and continuing an efficient cold supply chain. This requires expertise in thermodynamic design and packaging.
When it comes to defining, supporting, maintaining, and applying cold chain technologies to package, transport, distribute, warehouse, and sell cold chain products, the words “cold chain management” and “cold chain solutions” are used.
Thermal packaging, which is created to think outside the box, is a key component of an efficient cold chain solution.
What is the thermal package’s strategy for keeping the right temperature inside the container? What happens to the thermal package while it travels through the chilly supply chain? How does this impact cold chain solution design and application?
Keep reading to learn more about:
- The elements that go into a cold chain solution
Elements of a Cold Chain Solution
Cold chain management encompasses various methods of handling and storage, such as management, packaging, monitoring, and logistics.
Basically, cold chain solutions are the ecosystem of processes, goods, expertise, technology, and management that keeps the cold supply chain running smoothly. These nine elements of a cold chain solution ensure quality, efficacy, safety, and value for temperature-sensitive items:
Technology
Technology is the common thread that ties all aspects of thermal packaging together, from the latest in reusable turn-key thermal packaging solutions to flexible material design and application, thermodynamics expertise and knowledge used to design smarter packaging, the use of phase change material (PCM) refrigerants, or smart manufacturing and qualification processes.
Storage
Management of the cold supply chain and its solutions starts with storage. This includes the storage of individual ingredients used to produce heat-and-serve frozen meals, final frozen meal products, and pharmaceuticals and vaccines. Each of these requires a specialized storage environment.
Controlling temperature variations is critical before, during, and after transportation to prevent spoilage. The equipment and facilities required for cold chain storage, including cold rooms/chillers, vaccine and medical refrigerators, insulated containers, and refrigerants, are vital to ensuring that temperature-sensitive products can be packaged and transported through the cold supply chain.
Packaging
The correct use of thermal packaging is critical to an effective cold chain system. Remember that no two items are alike. Shelf-stable dairy products and refrigerated dairy products, for example, are essentially the same, but they require different levels of thermal protection.
The thermal packaging you employ also has a variety of features, applications, uses, and benefits. Envelopes, containers, refrigerants, medical refrigerators and freezers, pallet systems – all have their strengths and weaknesses.
It’s critical that your cold chain solution begins with the proper packaging utilized in the correct ways at the perfect times.
Monitoring
Through-out the cold supply chain, real-time monitoring of the cold chain status and management process provides insight into the condition of your products and logistics system.
The development of IoT technology is improving best practices for cold chain monitoring and overall quality of cold chain solutions.
Thermal packaging products, such as data loggers and temperature indicators, give companies real-time visibility into the status of the cold supply chain and temperature-sensitive products. These specialized Bluetooth sensors allow for easy monitoring from a distance.
Transportation
The global cold supply chain is the process of moving perishable goods across different modes of transportation–waterways, rail lines, roads, and in the air–to their final destination. Maintaining a product’s desired temperature during transit is difficult enough when products are packaged on one continent and then transported to another. But it becomes even more complicated when those products need to be delivered to a rural location or busy urban center.
Cold chain products are kept moving safely and securely via specialized trucks, such as refrigerated transport vehicles, same-day delivery, inventory and logistics management systems, and IoT technologies.
Customs clearance
If you don’t meet customs requirements, your delivery could get delayed, which might cause you to lose the product, risk damage to the product quality, put people in danger, and cost extra money for storage transport, and delivery.
The documentation requirements for some countries can be challenging. They make up a critical component of your risk management analysis and best practices, as well as ensuring that your cold chain solution is effective.
Qualification
According to Good Distribution Practices (GDPs), minimizing transportation and delivery risks to product quality is essential, and thermal packaging qualification does just that.
Certification services include design, operational, and performance qualifications that can provide you the assurance, verification, and data you need to validate your thermal packaging.
Product management
Having secure storage that meets the specific needs of your product, experienced staff and technology to track your product at every stage, and thermal packaging supplies ensures that your product is protected throughout the entire duration of its shipment.
Delivery
Reviewing documents, implementing best practices for handling items internally, and understanding the associated risks are all critical for delivering products to customers whether they’re businesses or individuals. The risks within the cold supply chain become more prevalent at this stage- including delays in unloading merchandise, container ships becoming stranded, traffic congestion preventing movement of product, lack of personnel available to do the work properly