Monitoring cold chain logistics by means of RFID.

Every day, millions of tons of temperature sensitive goods are produced, transported, stored or distributed worldwide. For all these products the control of temperature is essential. The term “cold chain” describes the series of interdependent equipment and processes employed to ensure the temperature preservation of perishables and other temperaturecontrolled products from the production to the consumption end in a safe, wholesome, and good quality state (Zhang, 2007). In other words, it is a supply chain of temperature sensitive products. So temperature-control is the key point in cold chain operation and the most important factor when prolonging the practical shelf life of produce. Thus, the major challenge is to ensure a continuous ‘cold chain’ from producer to consumer in order to guaranty prime condition of goods (Ruiz-Garcia et al., 2007).These products can be perishable items like fruit, vegetables, flowers, fish, meat and dairy products or medical products like drugs, blood, vaccines, organs, plasma and tissues. All of them can have their properties affected by temperature changes. Also some chemicals and electronic components like microchips are temperature sensitive

Assessment of novel temperature monitoring systems for improving cold chain management in meat supply chains

The objective of this thesis has been to develop a concept to assess temperature monitoring systems. In particular, the ability of such systems to improve cold chain management has been investigated. The improvement potential has been considered taking into account the scoring and ranking of available systems for different meat supply chains. The concept is based on several empirical and experimental studies which are concerned with four research questions. The detailed examination of a large variety of intra- and interorganizational temperature monitoring systems, as well as solutions, followed the characterization of key functionalities of these systems. Due to the characterization of implementation challenges, the necessary requirements in customer-supplier relationships in cold supply chains could be established. Taking these requirements into account, the importance of a three-dimensional (technical, organizational and functional) view of the improvement of cold chain management could be derived, resulting in a three-dimensional generic model. The importance of this threedimensional view has been investigated in a long-term field trial in a poultry supply chain using Time-Temperature-Indicators (TTIs) as an example. In total, comprehensive data sets from ten “Temperature mappings”, six field trials with Time-Temperature-Indicators (TTIs) and two field trials with RFIDs with a temperature sensor and results from 20 expert discussions were available for the derivation of the assessment concept. 11 companies involved in poultry, fish, pork, beef and cooked ham supply chains on a (German) national, international and global scale have been involved in the study. Based on the results, a concept for assessing temperature monitoring solutions is been proposed. It is defined as the “Multi-criteria Decision Aid - Cold Chain Management (MCDACCM)” - concept. It is a combination of five levels and five columns which contain the respective phases, steps and elements of the process concept. For the process of the assessment, four steps have been defined – Requirement determination (1), Scoring process (2), Calculation (3) and Ranking (4) – divided into the phases “CCM requirement creation” and “Assessment and Decision”. In the first step the ‘‘Three-dimensional generic model” is proposed for determination and categorization of 14 cold chain management relevant technical, organizational and functional criteria. By using a “Scoring model” (step 2), the weighting of the criteria can be conducted. In the final two steps, the Multi-Criteria Decision Aid method PROMETHEE (Preference Ranking Organization Method for Enrichment Evaluation) permits the calculation of “outranking net flows” (step 3) enabling the ranking of a finite number of temperature monitoring alternatives (step 4). The user-orientated assessment concept facilitates decision making so as to ascertain the best temperature monitoring solution for specific application cases.Bewertung von neuartigen Temperaturüberwachungsmöglichkeiten zur Verbesserung des Kühlkettenmanagements in Fleisch erzeugenden Ketten Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit war es, ein Konzept zur Bewertung von Temperaturüberwachungssystemen zu entwickeln. Insbesondere galt es, deren unterschiedliche Potenziale zur Verbesserung des Kühlkettenmanagements in Fleisch erzeugenden Ketten darzustellen und zu rangieren. Die Grundlage der Konzeptentwicklung bildeten mehrere empirische und experimentelle Studien, hinter denen vier Forschungsfragen standen. Die Charakterisierung von Schlüsselfunktionalitäten erfolgte für inner- und überbetriebliche Temperaturüberwachungssysteme. Dabei bestand die Herausforderung, die Anforderungen von Kunden und Lieferanten in Zulieferketten zum Lebensmitteleinzelhandel gleichermaßen zu berücksichtigen. Dies erfolgte durch die Weiterentwicklung eines generischen Models, indem sowohl technische, organisatorische als auch funktionale Aspekte Berücksichtigung fanden. Im Rahmen einer mehrwöchigen Feldstudie in einer Geflügelfleisch erzeugenden Kette ließen sich exemplarisch die erzielbaren Verbesserungen auf der Grundlage des dreidimensionalen Vorgehensmodells zeigen. Exemplarisch kamen hierbei Zeit-Temperatur-Indikatoren zum Einsatz. Insgesamt standen zur Ableitung des Bewertungskonzeptes umfassende Datensätze von zehn „Temperature mappings“, sechs Feldstudien mit Zeit-Temperatur- Indikatoren und zwei Feldstudien mit RFIDs mit Temperatursensoren sowie Ergebnisse aus 20 Expertendiskussionen zur Verfügung. In die Untersuchungen brachten sich 11 Unternehmen nationaler, internationaler und globaler Wertschöpfungsketten, bezogen auf die Produkte Geflügelfleisch, Fisch, Schweinefleisch, Rindfleisch und Kochschinken, ein. Aus den Studienergebnissen entstand der strukturelle Aufbau eines Bewertungskonzeptes, das als „Multi-criteria Decision Aid - Cold Chain Management (MCDA-CCM)“ - Konzept bezeichnet wird. Es handelt sich um eine Matrix, bestehend aus fünf Ebenen und fünf Spalten, die die jeweiligen Phasen und Elemente des Vorgehenskonzeptes enthalten. Der Ablauf der Bewertung sieht die zwei Phasen “Bestimmung Kühlkettenmanagement relevanter Anforderungen” sowie “Bewertung und Entscheidung” vor. Jede Phase ist nochmals untergliedert. Im ersten Schritt sieht die Verwendung des „dreidimensionalen generischen Modells“ eine konkrete Festlegung technischer, organisatorischer und funktionaler Kriterien für zu bewertende Innovationen im Kühlkettenmanagement vor. Die im „Scoring model“ festgelegte nummerische Gewichtung 14 unterschiedlicher Kriterien ist die Grundlage für die darauffolgenden Bewertungsschritte. In den weiteren Phasen wird die multikriterielle Entscheidungsmethode „PROMETHEE (Preference Ranking Organization Method for Enrichment Evaluation)“ herangezogen. Das zur Verfügung stehende Berechnungstool ermöglicht die Kalkulation von „outranking net flows“ im dritten Schritt. Im vierten Schritt erfolgt schließlich die Bildung einer Rangreihenfolge von präferierten Lösungen für unterschiedliche Anwendungsszenarien zur Verbesserung des jeweiligen Kühlkettenmanagements

Dynamics in Logistics

This open access book highlights the interdisciplinary aspects of logistics research. Featuring empirical, methodological, and practice-oriented articles, it addresses the modelling, planning, optimization and control of processes. Chiefly focusing on supply chains, logistics networks, production systems, and systems and facilities for material flows, the respective contributions combine research on classical supply chain management, digitalized business processes, production engineering, electrical engineering, computer science and mathematical optimization. To celebrate 25 years of interdisciplinary and collaborative research conducted at the Bremen Research Cluster for Dynamics in Logistics (LogDynamics), in this book hand-picked experts currently or formerly affiliated with the Cluster provide retrospectives, present cutting-edge research, and outline future research directions

A hybrid traceability technology selection approach for sustainable food supply chains

Traceability technologies have great potential to improve sustainable performance in cold food supply chains by reducing food loss. In existing approaches, traceability technologies are selected either intuitively or through a random approach, that neither considers the trade-off between multiple cost–benefit technology criteria nor systematically translates user requirements for traceability systems into the selection process. This paper presents a hybrid approach combining the fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) with integer linear programming to select the optimum traceability technologies for improving sustainable performance in cold food supply chains. The proposed methodology is applied in four case studies utilising data collected from literature and expert interviews. The proposed approach can assist decision-makers, e.g., food business operators and technology companies, to identify what combination of technologies best suits a given food supply chain scenario and reduces food loss at minimum cost.Cambridge Trust and Commonwealth Scholarship Commission

A Review of Wireless Sensor Technologies and Applications in Agriculture and Food Industry: State of the Art and Current Trends

The aim of the present paper is to review the technical and scientific state of the art of wireless sensor technologies and standards for wireless communications in the Agri-Food sector. These technologies are very promising in several fields such as environmental monitoring, precision agriculture, cold chain control or traceability. The paper focuses on WSN (Wireless Sensor Networks) and RFID (Radio Frequency Identification), presenting the different systems available, recent developments and examples of applications, including ZigBee based WSN and passive, semi-passive and active RFID. Future trends of wireless communications in agriculture and food industry are also discussed

Dynamics in Logistics

This open access book highlights the interdisciplinary aspects of logistics research. Featuring empirical, methodological, and practice-oriented articles, it addresses the modelling, planning, optimization and control of processes. Chiefly focusing on supply chains, logistics networks, production systems, and systems and facilities for material flows, the respective contributions combine research on classical supply chain management, digitalized business processes, production engineering, electrical engineering, computer science and mathematical optimization. To celebrate 25 years of interdisciplinary and collaborative research conducted at the Bremen Research Cluster for Dynamics in Logistics (LogDynamics), in this book hand-picked experts currently or formerly affiliated with the Cluster provide retrospectives, present cutting-edge research, and outline future research directions

Real-time human ambulation, activity, and physiological monitoring:taxonomy of issues, techniques, applications, challenges and limitations

Automated methods of real-time, unobtrusive, human ambulation, activity, and wellness monitoring and data analysis using various algorithmic techniques have been subjects of intense research. The general aim is to devise effective means of addressing the demands of assisted living, rehabilitation, and clinical observation and assessment through sensor-based monitoring. The research studies have resulted in a large amount of literature. This paper presents a holistic articulation of the research studies and offers comprehensive insights along four main axes: distribution of existing studies; monitoring device framework and sensor types; data collection, processing and analysis; and applications, limitations and challenges. The aim is to present a systematic and most complete study of literature in the area in order to identify research gaps and prioritize future research directions