M2M Wireless Temperature

Monitoring Solution

M2M Wireless Temperature Monitoring Solution

#WP0002302 March 2015

Introduction ..................................................................................................................................................................................................... 3

Cold Chain Industry ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 3

Challenges in Cold Chain Logistics?.......................................................................................................................................................... 5

Guidelines and Compliance......................................................................................................................................................................... 6

Fallout of current solution ............................................................................................................................................................................ 7

Machine to Machine Temperature monitoring solution ..................................................................................................................... 7

About Us ........................................................................................................................................................................................................... 9

Contents

M2M Wireless Temperature Monitoring Solution

#WP0002302 March 2015

Introduction

The objective of this primer is to provide the reader with an understanding of Cold Chain

industry temperature monitoing. The challenges these companies face during transporation

and logistics of cold assets and how to overcome it. The cold assets are temperature sensitive

goods that requires, temperature of these goods to be maintained, monitored and reported

at all times

Cold Chain Industry

Cold Chain Management is simply a supply chain with temperature as its central focus. Cold

Chain Management involves logistics of temperature sensitive items and their storage. From

the point of manufacturing until the product reaches the customer.

The Cold Chain industry is a fast growing industry. According to leading market analysts the

cold chain industry is growing at a healthy rate, with a compounded annual growth rate

(CAGR) of 15% the industry is expected to reach 233Billion USD in revenue by 2019.

M2M Wireless Temperature Monitoring Solution

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53.7

64.2

74.9

93.5

120.6

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Cold Chain Industry Market Size

MCap Size Billion USD

4.3

6.8

12.6

15.3

20.6

0

5

10

15

20

25

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Billion Metric Tons

Source: Internet

M2M Wireless Temperature Monitoring Solution

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Challenges in Cold Chain Logistics?

But the industry faces the challenge of wastage due to temperature excursions. Nearly 25%

of the manufactured goods are wasted during transportation or due to improper storage of

temperature sensitive products. From the point of manufacturing until the product reaches

the customer, the products temperature needs to be maintained and monitored.

Depending on the type, every product has a “maximum out of refrigeration limit” beyond

which the products become unusable.

Usually, the organization stores the product up to the manufacturing point and from there-

on it is transported, stored and maintained by a third party solution providers (3PLs). The

3PLs ensure proper refrigeration, packaging and logistics for the goods.

Things get really complicated when more and more 3PLs/agents get involved in handling

the goods. According to a leading pharma company their products need to pass through

three airports, two different air carriers, two trucks, and stored at three different locations.

This is handled by four/five 3PLs with an average logistics time of anything between 10-15

days before hitting the distribution channel.

So it becomes complex and nearly impractical to monitor the temperature throughout all

channels

M2M Wireless Temperature Monitoring Solution

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Guidelines and Compliance

The situation gets further complicated with regulatory and compliance needs when

transporting or storing temperature sensitive products. The US Food and Drug Administration

has given a set of guidelines for manufacturing cold chain products under “current good

manufacturing practices” cGMP and for logistics under “good distribution practices” GDP.

Some, Guidelines for Cold Chain Logistics

• Pharma products should be maintained at a temperature between 2°C – 8°C (some

medical products need specific temperature)

• Pharma products are stored in frost free environment

• Frozen foods are transported and stored at -18°C at all times

• Chilled foods, dairy products are stored at a temperature between 0°C – 5°C

• The maximum out of refrigeration limit is normally between 3 – 5hrs (may vary

depending upon the product)

• Temperature data must be recorded at regular intervals using data logger

So it becomes not just necessity but a mandatory compliance need to monitor temperature

when cold assets are shipped.

Cold Chain

Manufacturing

Packaging

Shipping and

Logistics

Storage Delivery

M2M Wireless Temperature Monitoring Solution

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Fallout of the current solution

Though there are many solutions to monitor temperature for temperature sensitive goods.

The solutions fall short of fulfilling the industry needs. For instance, the data loggers that

companies deploy are good in recording temperatures. They are kept inside the cold box and

shipped along with it. So when the product reaches its destination, the agent collect the data

logger and checks the log for temperature excursions. The problem is there is no way of

knowing if there were any temperature excursions in real-time.

Another technology usually used is RFID, which is tagged along with the cold assets when

they are shipped. The RFID sends temperature information over a short distance. Which is

recoded by a storage device. If the temperature falls short of the required limit the RFID alerts

the agent within its range. But, this is only good for short distance logistics need.

What if the product has to be shipped over a long distance, and shipment takes more than a

day to reach its destination? So the industry needs a strong and robust solution that monitors

temperature and alerts when excursions occur in real-time.

Internet of Things Temperature monitoring solution

Internet of Things (IoT) is the latest technology for monitoring temperature sensitive products

using Machine to machine (M2M) platform. The process involves attaching a sensor to the

temperature sensitive asset that will transmit data wirelessly using a cellular network to the

cloud storage. The data is processed in the cloud and displayed in real-time.

In the case of any temperature excursion the sensor will alert the agent in real-time. This

allows the agent to act based on the alert and resolve the issue causing the temperature

excursion. For instance, if the temperature falls short because of a faulty storage freezer. The

agent can replace the defective storage before the product reaches its maximum out of

storage refrigeration limit.

The application records the temperature, GPS location and time of the asset at regular

intervals that can be used as a report for compliance purposes

M2M Wireless Temperature Monitoring Solution

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The historical of data stored can also be used for learning asset movement pattern, to improve

the process, shipping delays, etc.

Benefits of M2M temperature monitoring solution

Monitoring real-time temperature wirelessly

Real-Time alert when temperature falls short of set threshold limit

Get historical data in just minutes

Ability to do geo-fencing, track, and trace goods.

The device can be

configured over the air using

the application

Cold Chain Temperature

Monitoring

The data is stored and

processed in cloud

Cold chain storage

warehouse Cold Storage Box

Application server

correlates the collected

data

M2M device transmits

temperature data

wirelessly

Refrigerated Trucks

The collected data

is shown as alerts

and reports

remotely

The M2M sensor

collects

temperature data

wirelessly

M2M Wireless Temperature Monitoring Solution

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About Us

Nimble Wireless is a leading M2M/IOT company. Nimble’s Toucan and SORA devices help

customers to track and monitor their assets remotely. IRIS cloud application on the other

hand, helps getting reports done, alerts when something goes wrong. Thus, providing an

end-to-end solution for Asset Tracking, Cold Chain Monitoring, and Energy Monitoring.

With worldwide GSM compatibility and certified by FCC for Verizon and Sprint in the U.S for

asset monitoring and tracking. “Sense your assets even if they are thousands of miles apart.”

Reference

http://lifesciences.georgia.org/master/files/tmp/GA%20Cold%20Chain%20Logistics_Final.pdf

http://naturalleader.com/wp-content/themes/natlead/images/CRC3656-ColdChainOpp.pdf

http://indiacoldchainshow.com/Cold%20Chain%20Sector%20In%20India%20-%20Yes%20Bank%20Report%202014.pdf

http://www.postharvest.org/Use%20of%20cold%20chains%20PEF%20white%20paper%2013-03%20final.pdf

http://www.iifiir.org/medias/medias.aspx?instance=EXPLOITATION&SETLANGUAGE=EN