Royal Food Import adopts RFID system to save costs and improve food safety and quality
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Royal Food Import Corp., an export company specializing in food business, chose Savi Networks’ automatic wireless monitoring service to improve the end-to-end visibility, safety and freshness of food during transportation. The term of the contract is three years, and the initial stage involves real-time tracking and safety during the transportation of fruits and vegetables. Fruits and vegetables are transported from production bases in Thailand and China by truck, rail, and ship containers to distribution centers in the United States. Need real-time monitoring.
When imported food is transported from the port by train to centers across the United States, the arrival time is often variable and unpredictable. Unable to accurately predict the arrival time of the product will lead to an increase in Royal Food Import’s cost and time delay. Royal Food Import imports private label products packaged in Asia and South America (refers to unbranded products produced by small and medium-sized companies or farms, mainly for sale To supermarkets), such as fruits, fish, and vegetables, to American retailers.
In a food processing plant in Thailand, workers install SaviTrak LSE electronics on the door of a cargo container
Therefore, when the company started looking for a temperature monitoring system for containers in transit-to ensure that temperature-sensitive foods, such as peaches and pineapples, are kept within safe temperature limits-it was found that a single solution could solve both temperature and time issues, and this system also It can improve the safety of the container and allow customers to obtain real-time visibility of the product location.
“Initially, we only hoped that this system could provide a system to monitor temperature-sensitive food during transportation,” said Collin Tuthill, Chairman of Royal Food Import. “However, we have discovered its other advantages, that is, a positioning system can help the company better understand the time and location of the arrival of the goods, and share this information with customers.”
The Savi Networks SaviTrak program uses a cargo container security blockade with GPS technology to identify the location of the company’s imported cargo. This system can monitor temperature and send location information, security status and sensor data to a WEB server through a cellular connection.
The data sent by the cargo blockade is managed by the SaviTrak control center
When the goods arrive at the railway yard, Royal Food must pay first to obtain the ownership of the goods, sometimes even a day or earlier than the due date, which means that the payment is deducted from the account prematurely. The company often pays the day or a few days before the expected arrival time of the goods to ensure timely acquisition of the ownership of the goods, and can directly pick up the goods as soon as the goods arrive, avoiding overdue costs caused by the detention of containers. By adopting the positioning system, the company can understand the specific location of the goods and pay at the right time without delays caused by advance or delay. “In the food industry, we must be careful to keep expenses within budget,” Tuthill said.
Royal Food began testing this system on Thai cargo. When the container ship was destined for the United States, the company tested the positioning and temperature and humidity monitoring functions of the system. In that test, the effectiveness and feasibility of this system have been proven, and the company soon adopted SaviTrak battery-powered LSE blockade on cargo container doors in China and Thailand. Neil Smith, CEO of Savi Networks, said that it has blocked built-in temperature and humidity sensors to monitor the conditions inside the box. The blockade works with a GPRS transmitter and a GPS receiver. He said that there is also a sensor that detects any movement of the blockade after the container is locked, such as whether someone attempts to open the container.
When the lock is used for the first time, the manufacturer enters the user name and password on a connected PC to log in to the SaviTrak software. Next, the factory enters the container number and the ID number of the label (corresponding to the container and label) to generate an electronic list.
Once the blockade is locked, it starts to send its unique ID code to the nearby cellular antenna via the cellular connection. (The blockade can be set to be inactive at sea or within the range of non-signal towers to save battery life.) The blockade also sends data of latitude and longitude and temperature and humidity in the box based on GPS data. If the humidity or temperature exceeds the allowable range, or if a safety violation is detected, the system sends an alarm.
During the test, Tuthill stated that the container sends information all the way from the manufacturing point (where the container is loaded with packaged food)-to the seaport-to the port. The signal is not within the range of the cellular connection when it is at sea, and the signal is reacquired when it arrives at a US port. At that time, Royal Food will receive any alert indicating that the container is experiencing problems at sea.
The data sent from the cargo container blockade is forwarded to the Savi Networks Web server managed by the SaviTrak control center. Royal Food then obtains information via the Internet. SaviTrak software forwards alerts to company employees via email or text message.
Royal Food (which pays Savi Networks a monthly service fee) also allows customers to share this data. The system can be set to send alerts to food importers or customers. If the container reaches a certain position, it means that it will arrive at the yard soon, so that Royal Food can pay for the goods and send the trucks to pick them up. For company customers, the knowledge of the location of the goods helps them better predict when the goods will arrive at the store or distribution center.
According to Tuthill, the benefits are threefold. “If two or three days can be eliminated for each shipment, it will save hundreds of thousands of dollars,” he said. This system also guarantees the safety of the container. If the blockade is opened, the system will send an alert. “Safety is extremely important-for me it is the main motivation for adopting this system.” This system assures customers that the container has not been damaged during transportation, Tuthill added, and temperature data is very important for perishable products. , If you find that the temperature on the ship exceeds the limit, you can move related products immediately.
Collin Tuthill, President of Royal Food Import, said: “Royal Food is committed to providing our retail and restaurant customers with top-quality products at competitive prices. We make full use of advanced information systems such as SaviTrak to ensure product safety from the field to the table. SaviTrak services are We provide a competitive information advantage, which means we can provide fresh products all over the world at the right price.”
Neil Smith, Chief Executive Officer of Savi Networks, said: “We are happy to provide Royal Food with 21st century intelligence services, providing visibility and control of global trade almost anywhere and at any time. SaviTrak(TM) can be used for the entire terminal Tracking the end supply chain greatly improves performance, efficiency and product integrity.”
Tuthill claims that the cost of the system is allocated to those customers who need the data as part of the cost of the company’s services. Overall, the cost increase is small. The food processing plant will soon install the Savi Networks LSE blockade on hundreds of containers. Tuthill said that the system is expected to be officially launched at the end of March or early April this year.
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