American Driscoll’s company uses RFID technology to monitor food transportation in real time
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In order to ensure that its strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and raspberries are at an optimal temperature during transportation, Driscoll’s adopts a system using RFID technology to track the location, safety conditions and product temperature of its products when they are transported on a trailer. Real-time report product information.
Driscoll’s company conducted a test deployment of this system to track strawberries shipped from the California cooling and distribution plant to the Florida distribution center. This system is provided by Locus Traxx, a manufacturer of sensors and transportation monitoring technology. The technology includes two temperature sensors with built-in battery-powered 2.4 GHz RFID tags, a door sensor containing a similar RFID tag, and an RFID reader connected to a GPS device in the truck cab. By using the Locus Traxx system, Driscoll’s can check the temperature of the berries, the length of the transportation time, when an accident (such as high temperature or the door opened) occurred, and the speed of the truck as it unloaded at the distribution center.
Driscoll’s has used RFID technology to track the temperature of products in transit in the past. Because its products are highly sensitive to outside temperatures that are too cold or too hot, and because the company wants its product quality to exceed its competitors, Driscoll’s has been working hard to improve the quality of its products during transportation. The company’s product planning and Rick Reyes, head of transportation systems, said. The previous RFID system included a temperature sensor with a source RFID tag, and when the truck drove into the distribution center, the sensor’s data would be transmitted to the reader. However, these data are usually too late, for example, the temperature of the product may have exceeded the specified range when the data came. He said: “We do not have real-time information, so we cannot respond proactively.”
In addition, because the berries are transported by a third-party logistics company, Driscoll’s company cannot understand their products in real time, such as the location of the truck, when and where the products are delayed in transportation. If the trailer door is accidentally opened in the middle of the road, such as theft, the company will not be able to know the situation.
The Locus Traxx system is designed to solve these challenges. John Hennessy, deputy marketing director of Locus Traxx, said that during the pilot, when the berries packed on the pallet were loaded onto the truck, Driscoll’s employees put two Smart Traxx active 2.4 GHz RFID sensor tags (using a proprietary RF interface specification) placed in the refrigerated trailer of each truck. Sensor tags were placed between berry trays in two different locations in the trailer to obtain two different temperature readings. These sensors measure the temperature level at predetermined time intervals and then send information at a rate of every five minutes. This rate can also be adjusted if necessary. There is also a Smart Traxx RFID sensor, like a horse harness, attached to the closed mechanical device of the trailer door after the vehicle is loaded with cargo. This sensor is used to detect whether the trailer door is opened, and then transmit data at a predetermined speed.
The last component of the entire system is the Smart Traxx module, which contains an RFID reader, connected to a GPS device and a GPRS transmitter. This module is plugged directly into the power supply in the car’s cab, and the GPS device is placed on the dashboard. When the sensor transmits its own ID number and temperature measurement readings, the transmission content is received by the module’s RFID reader. The module obtains the latest GPS data, indicating the longitude and latitude of the area where the truck is located, and transmits all the information to the nearest cell phone tower through a GPRS transmission signal, and then sends the data to the Locus Traxx server. The Smart Traxx software running on the server compiles the information and displays it on the server, and the management team of Driscoll’s company can obtain the data on the server through the password.
Reyes said: “Our main interest during the pilot was to know the location, temperature, and safety alert status of the product in real time.” For example, if the software detects that the truck door opens before the delivery center, the alert will be sent via email. Or send a text message. If the temperature is too high or too low, Reyes will also be alerted. When receiving the alert, he will contact the freight forwarder, and the freight forwarder will contact the driver to take action, such as turning on the refrigeration setting of a large refrigerator. Reyes said that when trucks are transported in the southwest in the summer, he is particularly interested in whether the product remains within an appropriate temperature range under the hottest conditions. He said he did receive some temperature alerts during the pilot and was able to respond immediately to ensure that the trailer temperature was corrected.
When an incident occurs, the software will send e-mails and text messages to specific personnel. The employees of Driscoll’s will enter the actions that need to be taken, such as calling the driver or notifying the staff at the delivery point. If no one responds to the alert, the alert will be sent to other staff at Driscoll’s company until the alert is responded.
This summer’s pilot tracked about 30 shipments from California to Florida, and the company is now using the technology on trucks from packaging plants in Baja, California and Mexico to distribution centers in Florida. In the future, Driscoll’s intends to start providing a four-component system (including two sensor tags, a harness-like tag, and a module reader) for trucks driven elsewhere in Mexico.
Reyes pointed out that one of the biggest challenges is to ensure that this set of components is returned to Driscoll’s. After the truck driver or distribution center employee took the three sensors and reader modules, the distribution center transported them to Locus Traxx, and then shipped the devices back to Driscoll’s. He said: “The more complicated thing is that we are not using our own transportation services, so Driscoll’s has to train third-party logistics providers to return these devices.”
Driscoll’s company used 15 sets of 4-component kits in the pilot process, and now has 50 sets. Reyes said: “These kits give us visibility that we have never had before, which is very important to us. It ensures that our products enter the market as soon as possible (without experiencing adverse temperature conditions).” Reyes He also said that if the transportation is delayed, he can check the status of the truck online and determine whether the truck is stuck in a specific location, such as at a border security checkpoint.
This information can be used for historical details about the transportation, such as how long it took for a freight forwarder to pass through customs or other specific areas, and where alarms (such as temperature exceeding a threshold) sounded most frequently. It can also be used to track when a driver is driving too fast. This data allows Driscoll’s to evaluate the process and make necessary changes, such as changing transportation routes, identifying specific locations and seasons, adjusting refrigeration temperature settings, or arranging previously delayed trucks to be transported first.
Driscoll’s company uses this system to reduce the loss of berry corruption or theft.
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