Distribution, Shipping

Sharing the load: How data gaps are closing in fresh food supply chains

fresh food supply chain

Data provider Escavox is expanding the reach of its real-time insights across the fresh food supply chain, increasing accountability and encouraging greater collaboration to lift food quality and reduce waste.

The expansion means that any supplier who purchases the Escavox service – whether a grower, carrier, wholesaler or retailer – can share the data they receive in real-time with all parties who have a stake in maintaining the produce’s quality and safety during the supply chain journey.

Escavox chief customer officer Nici Sanderson says the move is about increasing accountability and transparency across the cold chain.

“If all parties who have a responsibility for producing, transporting, storing and treating that fresh food can see its journey unfold at the same time, then we have a much better chance of minimising risk and having that produce delivered to the consumer in optimum condition,” Nici says.

“Sharing the responsibility across the supply chain means we’ll get to this point much quicker and with fewer costs along the way if our steps are guided by independent, verifiable real-time data.”

Escavox is the only fresh food supply chain monitoring company in the world that converts precise data into meaningful insights to help fresh food suppliers.

With continuous monitoring of food in the supply chain, food suppliers can see what their food is experiencing in real time – whether it is too hot or too cold, or exposed to too much light, humidity and motion, and where it is located on the journey.

As well as getting a real-time data feed to their PC or smart device that will enable quick decision-making, users of the Escavox system can get more detailed reports to help them develop data-informed strategies about what they need to action to improve their operations and protect the quality of their products in-transit.

The new ‘Track Share’ functionality means an Escavox customer can choose who should have access to specific journeys they select.

“For example, if you are a carrier, you can use this feature to share specific journeys with multiple supply chain partners from the farm to the DC to the retail store,” Nici says.

“They will receive the same temperature and dispatch alerts as you, or they can set up their own alerts from the same data. You can also share information with your customer so they can see when their consignment is on its way and the condition it is in.

“Any journey, in fact any leg of any journey, can be linked to different supply chain partners – the decision is yours and now you have more pairs of eyes monitoring your loads.”

Nici says customers could also select which supply chain leg or legs were most relevant for each partner.

“For example, as a carrier you may only need to see your transport leg, whereas the producer or the retailer may want to see from departure port to arrival port,” she says. “Fundamentally, you decide on what data they see.

“Supply chains are complex and comprise multiple transition points, which only increase in volume and complexity the longer the supply chain journey takes.

“Improving your operation becomes faster and more cost-efficient when you have all your stakeholders on board, and they are informed by the same data at precisely the same time.

“When food quality is maintained at a higher level more consistently, the value chain accrues more benefits, such as reducing rejections, securing revenue and lowering food waste.”

For more on Escavox, click here

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