6 minute read
Tom Craig OpEd
Supply Chain reliance. It is required.
The global pandemic has challenged the modern global cold supply chain like never before.
Tom Craig President LTD Management, Pennsylvania, USA, a leading authority and professional consultant on logistics and supply chain management and regular contributor to Global Supply Chain explores the multiple challenges confronting the cold chain and riding out the peaks and troughs of supply and demand as economies reopen —Editor
There are markets whose products fall into a special niche--temperature sensitive. These include pharmaceuticals, edibles, foodstuffs, meat, fish and seafood an even chemicals.
The challenge is to protect against thawing, freezing, melting, degradation, spoilage particularly in relation to perishables. Add to that the growth of pathogens, the loss of efficacy, crosspolymerization and product degradation all of which are Irreversible physical changes, part of the putrefaction process.
With problems and failures, the product loses some or all of its purpose, quality, and value. It may also create dangers and risks for end-users. As a note, there is more as to industries and products, but this is illustrative of temperature control.
The cold chain segment got global attention with early stories about one of the Covid vaccines
and its extreme cold temperature requirements. The temperature cited would have been a serious challenge for its worldwide movement, logistics, and distribution to vaccination depots and administration locations.
Going beyond storage and shipping
Supply chain management (SCM) for the cold chain is more than storage and shipping. There is product risk that makes it unique. That risk puts requirements of the supply chain.
Overall, for cold chain, the SCM has to be elevated beyond nonunique products. This upraising should be done around the supply chain structure—process, technology, organization and that structure should mirror the company.
The design of your supply chain and its operation should draw on lessons learned from the pandemic. That means resilience— both inside your four walls and outside. Increased resilience means reduced risk. A centrepiece of becoming resilient is your supply chain structure.
First, though, there is no universal agreement or standard for the temperature range for the cold chain. This reflects that the protection need depends on and varies by product. Different products putrefy at different temperature ranges—from chill to cryogenic.
Managing challenges
Managing the cold chain, end-toend, is a challenge. It is preferable to finding out at delivery that a shipment went bad. The longer the transit both as to time and distance, the more parties and movement stops involved, the greater the risk. The end-to-end challenge can then be defined as risk mitigation.
This special supply chain, especially for export/import, presents criticality and has requirements that must be recognized. These demands meld and include:
Action #1: Maintain end-to-end temperature. It is not an option. Reality is where a company sits in the end-to-end cold chain affects how it handles it--from manufacturing through to local distribution.
There is a range of activities from production/preparation to ‘consumption’ by the enduser. With it goes important temperature integrity. Failures create product problems and even peril for end-users. Be aware too of regulations that may apply.
Dual approach
There are two parts here. The logistics/transport segment will be highlighted below. The other is about your company and its product.
You sell the refrigerated product. So you may view your role here as done which it is. However, they have to remember that it is your product, your company, and your brand image if something negative happens to the product. So the challenge escalates with changes in product ownership that may occur. Be aware of the big picture here.
Action # 2: Understand the end-to-end logistics providers and infrastructure. This is the transportation and logistics. We need to be mindful of different modes and different roles and warehouse/storage. The issue, as always, is that the temperature is controlled.
As with above, there are two parts. One is the logistics infrastructure and the other is the refrigerated container or trailer and the warehouse. Also to be considered are the transport / logistics service providers who move these products.
These two parts are what have permitted this market segment to significantly increase worldwide. Selecting the right transport and logistics providers is underpins your success here.
Outsourced logistics
This also is important when sections of the logistics are outsourced. Be aware that the benefits an outside provider brings may also be offset because of possible risk with an outsider and how it fits into the supply chain operation.
Be aware of the providers that you may not see, that you do not select, or do not directly pay the charges. For example, think of all the movements and places your export shipment goes through from your door to be safely placed on a ship. Think of potential delivery delays. It is all to protect your shipment.
Action # 3: Integrate the logistics activities and their continuous movement. This means coordination, collaboration, planning, and more. Not every step is providing some type of temperature control, but where there is activity, nothing must go wrong. This can include temperature fluctuations.
Think of the times where, for example, a trucker moves a refrigerated container or trailer. Or it is an export move, and all the players must make sure the container moves, is plugged in, and other attention that is needed. The interim steps and players cannot be excluded. Think the same with delivery and stops on the route. Action # 5: Utilize technology. It is not optional. You need to know if doors on the trailer were left open or how long a container sat unprotected. That is an application for technology to monitor and maintain. This is both for storage and for transport.
Visibility, which is more than track and trace; Blockchain, add blocks and build the chain for visibility also aid with the chain of custody that is important for many.
You also want technology at a granular level—the case and pallet. This tech application is increasing as also are bots, sensors, chips, temperature trackers and timetemperature indicators (TTI) that change colour. Other inclusions are data logging monitors, RFID (radio frequency identification) tags, GS1-128 bar codes and labels for international shipments.
Action # 6: Organization. While cold logistics is a vital part of the supply chain, its role should be defined. This differs from the more traditional of fitting the supply chain into the logistics. This difference is not subtle than delineating by logistics and transportation, the organization should upstream and downstream.
Action # 4: Assess and validate the process (not procedure). Follow the product and the activities. Understand what participants say happens. Then examine it with tracing and tracking customer orders or purchase orders.
Do you find gaps that slow down the process or redundancies along the process which are made because of gaps? Think of holes in the process as potential temperature protection failures-risks to your product’s integrity. Reducing process time can improve process control and product integrity. Think time and temperature.
Upstream / Downstream
That also aligns with how the company does things. Upstream would be sourcing and manufacturing (or for sea and agriculture, it would be close to those activities). Downstream would reflect more to sales.
The particulars of your product will affect your efforts above. It also comes into play as to trailer specifications and how you load the shipment. The devil is in the details.
When your high-stakes cold chain supply chain operation is designed and operates well, then chill.
