Solar-powered reefer trailers and IoT devices are becoming sustainable

Push for the Internet of Things for devices used in tracking and warehouses provide companies with the benefit of real-time monitoring, remote temperature control, minimised human involvement and employee safety.

Features of environmentally friendly cold store facilities
Considering thermodynamic principles while designing a cold store facility will improve cooling element efficiency.
• Thermodynamic facility design: Additionally, the thermodynamic design ensures a drastic reduction in the rate at which the building loses internal cooling.
• Natural insulation materials: Although expensive, naturally available materials used for insulation instead of synthetic ones pay for themselves in the long run. Moreover, there is no risk of health hazards from synthetic materials.
• Less dependency on fossil fuel-based energy requirements: Cold store facilities require electricity to keep the HVAC systems running constantly. Depending on renewable and sustainable energy sources will be a step in the right direction for ensuring a sustainable future and reaching the climate change situation goal.

Facilities for pre-cooling and packaging in cold storage
Coolers, freezers and cold rooms are the most common refrigeration facilities used in cold storage. They can be used to refrigerate, freeze or chill products before the packaging stage, which makes them ideal for pre-cooling and packaging.

Meanwhile, bagging machines, shrink-wrapping machines and conveyors are used for packaging in cold storage. These facilities ease the process of packaging products in cold storage.

Factors needed to reinvent cold storage shortages
• A lack of technological implementation in the cold storage sector renders cold storage facilities inefficient and amplifies the carbon footprint.
• Private players own a huge chunk of cold storage facilities in India.
• Standardisation in terms of technology and processes could lead to better operations.
• Lack of highly skilled personnel for operating in the cold storage sectors hampers the optimum working capacity of the facility, thereby reducing productivity and increasing losses.
• Fluctuations in the power supply could lead to the breakdown of equipment. Fixing transmission losses in the electricity lines will result in smooth operations with minimal maintenance.

Upcoming trends in portable cold storage
• Temperature-controlled warehousing: This kind of warehouse could extend the shelf life of products and protect them from damage.
• Smart package tracking systems: Implementing smart package tracking systems in portable cold storage facilities will help companies track their products and know the temperature status.
• Implementation of solar-powered refrigeration systems: Probably one of the biggest and the most needed trend of the hour is the implementation of solar-powered refrigeration systems. It will significantly reduce a company’s carbon footprint and drive its trajectory in a sustainable direction.

Push for the Internet of Things for devices used in tracking and warehouses will give companies the benefit of real-time monitoring, remote temperature control, minimised human involvement and employee safety.

Supply chain transparency in inventory handling and storage processes
• Transparency and visibility of inventory: By maintaining transparency in the inventory and making it visible to all concerned people, the handling and storage process becomes much more manageable.
• Transparency in personnel training: The handling staff could be trained to handle the products without damaging those if the products and their nature are known to the personnel.
• Transparency in product-level security: Tracking every product in an inventory is essential as a company’s sales record depends on the inventory. If a product goes missing or untraceable, it could lead to a mismatch in the company’s records.
• Transparency in supplier management: To ensure consistency in the quality and costs of products, companies must maintain transparency in the suppliers’ processes.

Energy-efficient and technological advances in reefer vehicles
Energy-efficient and technological advances like eutectic technology and solar-powered reefer trailers are evolving for implementation. These technologies contribute majorly to cost-savings and are proven to be sustainable solutions to prevent food wastage. In addition, demand for pneumatic suspension in trucks, to be used for reefer trailers, is proving to be a boon for critical equipment and products like chemicals, blood, organs, vegetables, medicines, etc.