Adapt to answer all your cold chain visibility problems

Patented data loggers for end-to-end cold chain transparency.

Cold chain is a precisely planned series of events. 

Every node of the supply chain needs to be well-informed beforehand about the details of the goods arriving and at what time. This helps the receiving party plan ahead of time. 

Cold chain assets need to be treated with extreme care. Especially during handover where the goods are directly exposed to the raw environment. Manufacturing/ processing plants, packaging, cold stores, reefer trucks, distribution centres, last mile logistics partners, wholesale/ retail stores, hospitals and healthcare centres; each has a very crucial role to play in protecting the potency of vaccines and shelf life of food. 

Ensuring a temperature controlled environment across the cold chain is essential in protecting life saving medication and nutrition. Hence devoted effort is put into process monitoring and compliance reporting. 

Temperature monitoring technology 

Temperature monitoring is done in different ways by different actors of cold chain using wired sensor systems or, Data acquisition systems (DAQs) or, data loggers, etc. Often a DAQ or Wired system is backed up with a data logger to avoid accidental downtime as they are inexpensive, easy to use and low maintenance. 

Data loggers 

Before we delve deep into the cold chain data loggers, we must acknowledge the huge variety of data loggers. Data loggers (referred to many times as portable IoT devices or battery powered sensors or just IoT devices) are used whenever a process needs to be monitored. From monitoring the vibrations in a Heavy vehicle to keeping an eye on power generated by solar energy panels, applications of data loggers are only limited by imagination. 

A data logger is an electronic sensor that takes note of the real-world parameters that are worth monitoring and provides this data to the user for keeping and future reference. The data is often used to understand the performance of a process, opportunities to improve and avoid catastrophe/ downtime. 

In the cold chain, asset intelligence gains a rather crucial importance, considering how highly valued and critically important the assets are. 

Good practises and compliance requirements 

As a food exporter or a logistics manager for pharmaceutical products, one doesn’t require an introduction to compliance enforcement. The importing country or the receiving party takes extreme care in accessing the quality of the product before receiving. 

WHO necessitates use of a single use temperature data logger at the least to accompany every cold chain consignment. Not being able to comply with the said requirements can prove dangerous to the assets, since many countries do not let the consignment enter until the documentation is cleared. 

To grow as a reliable logistics partner in storing and moving, time and temperature sensitive pharmaceutical and food assets, the service providers must take extreme care of their processes and be resilient to face the ever evolving crisis situations in the supply chain. 

Truck drivers and Ship crews, the unsung heroes of pandemic 

Braving the harsh weathers and long hauls, cold chain logistics has stood the test of pandemic in delivering bread, butter, meat and medicine to global consumers. To have a consumer life-style undisrupted and not to mention the mammoth task of vaccinating-the-world, the cold chain has proven to us how resilient the industry is. The United Nations declaring stranded ship crew’s situation as a global humanitarian crisis is enough to speak about the innumerable list of challenges the logistics industry had to face due to the pandemic. The foot soldiers of cold chain logistics are truly the capped heroes, who delivered in the time of dire need. 

Adapt’s live-end-to-end cold chain monitoring solutions 

Adapt is a cold chain monitoring solutions company. Helping cold chain logistics management with asset intelligence, since 2017. Founded by a team of IIT Bombay and Harvard business school alumni, Adapt is a globally trusted brand for reliable asset intelligence. Adapt provides hardware data loggers and software web-app support as a single solution offering to help organisations seamlessly jump start their asset intelligence journey. 

Best IoT solutions and innovative business models 

Cold chain industry needs technology support. No emphasis is enough to highlight the fact that they need data loggers for compliance reporting. 

Limited understanding of the technology and constrained availability of options in data loggers has created a “compliance complex”. It is high time to put users at the centre of the data logger’s business model. Data loggers are more than just compliance tools. They provide invaluable asset intelligence that helps users track their assets, have a long-trace of information regarding holding conditions, ensure asset safety and pinpoint the cause of deviance. 

Adapt’s solution offering is packed in an appealing and intuitive web-app which can act as a single-screen-command-and-control centre for cold chain operations across the organisation. It is easy to use and doesn’t require the support of a technician. Adapt’s solution of hardware and software packaged as a single offering provided: 

• Logistics managers with control of their operations and supply chain emergency response at the fingertips. 
• Quality teams with a huge repository of precise data to help them improve the operations efficiency. 
• Procurement managers are relieved by letting users order data loggers directly from the web-app. Hence they don’t have to reachout to the market each time dreading the possibility of stock-outs. 

Specialised remote monitoring solutions for each link in cold chain 

Adapt is a team of top-notch engineers, who are passionate about building technology solutions that are impactful and easy to use. Working well above 5 years with best logistics service providers across the globe helped Adapt understand the MO of the industry. Adapt’s solutions adapted to the evolving requirements leading to specialised solutions for cold store monitoring, moving asset monitoring, vaccine tracking, export and import shipments, etc. 

Understanding Adapt’s Kelvin range of data loggers 

A list of important features that is common for all data loggers in Kelvin range are: 

• They feature a single button. 
• They cannot be turned off. 
• Each data logger comes with a one year complementary cloud storage support.
• Adapt’s cloud software lets you add your team members and clients with restricted access to view their asset status. 

From Kelvin Lite to Kelvin Pro, herein below is a quick brief of Adapt’s product catalogue. 

Kelvin Lite single use temperature data logger 

Kelvin-lite lets users monitor a single trip. This is specially built for exports, where reverse logistics of data loggers is difficult. Kelvin Lite offers a specialised range of products to cater the specific applications. KSBT – Kelvin Lite single use basic temperature data loggers for food exports. KSBD – Kelvin Lite single use basic temperature data logger with display for pharma exports. KSBUN – Kelvin Lite single use basic Ultra Negative temperature data loggers for vaccines/medication that needs to be stored below -200 C. 

Unique features 

• Customization software to set temperature alarm set points, recording interval and precooling period. 
• When the USB of the device finds a connection, it can send the trip reports automatically to the sender and others who were added to the trip on the Adapt web-app. 
• The shelf life of the device is one year and the trip length could be upto 90 days. 
• Adapt also offers Kelvin Lite WHO Type data loggers, which are built in strict adherence to WHO guidelines for the same. 

Kelvin multi-use temperature and humidity data logger 

Kelvin Multi-use can be recharged and reused as many times as required. This is a specialised solution for cold room monitoring. This also comes with a probe version, which helps users monitor a temperature range of -100 C to +100 C. 

Unique features 

• CFR 21 compliant cloud software support. 
• Rechargeable battery with a Battery life of up to 1 year. 
• Customizable reports and on app sharing of reports/dashboards to support automation of compliance audits. 
• Web-app allows data logger replacement in chambers to ensure zero downtime in monitoring. 

Kelvin drive 

This allows users to track the location and temperature of the consignment. Kelvin drive is equipped with a 3 metre long temperature probe, GPS module and inbuilt GSM gateway to ensure live monitoring experience with high quality asset intelligence. 

Kelvin Pro 

It is the flagship product of Adapt. It is used to protect high value critical assets that are susceptible to temperature excursions, theft and tampering. It provides users with live status of consignment’s – temperature, humidity, location, tampering and shock impact. 

Kelvin pro is equipped with very sensitive light sensors to protect consignment against tampering. Immediate SMS and email alert are sent if the consignment is opened before reaching the destination. Kelvin Pro also comes with a probe version for ultra negative temperature monitoring. 

Unique features 

• Recognizes air-plane takeoff and landing, and switches itself to aeroplane mode while in air. IATA approved for air-cargo monitoring. 
• Controllable remotely from cloud software. 
• Reverse logistics support. 
• Global connectivity. Can be used to monitor air cargo moving across the nations. 
• Rechargeable battery with 1 year battery life. 
• Approved by Qantas, Delta and many other airlines for air cargo monitoring. 
• Works with both Cellular and WiFi connectivity. 

SDG 12.3: India’s role in global sustainability 

India is a hot bed of pharmaceutical activity. Together pharma and food products from India contribute to 47 percent cold chain activity across the globe. As important of a manufacturing giant it is, it is a warm country with unique challenges in cold chain technology. Even with limited availability of cold chain resources, India succeeds commendable in controlling food and medicine wastage. However, not enough to meet the SDG standards. 

Even with 8200 cold stores and 7000-8000 reefer trucks across the country, 25 percent of vaccine and 40 percent of the food produced in India is lost before it reaches consumer due to fragmented cold chain ecosystem [FAO]. (Compared to approximately 15 percent in USA and Europe. Food loss does not include the food wasted by end-consumers.) 

The Indian Cold chain industry has a key role to play in realising the Sustainable development goal of the United Nations to halve the food loss and food wastage by 2030 (SDG12.3). 

India has a long way to march towards sustainability, and cold chain technology might prove its potential as the single most effective tool in reaching it. 

To learn more about the Adapt team and journey, please visit www.adaptideations.com, to shop for Adapt data loggers visit www.adaptloggers.com. ]

To have a chat with the author, please drop a mail to shiva@adaptideations.com. 

Expertise shared by 

Prashanth Dharawath,

CEO, Adapt.