Critical Cold Chain Temperature Monitoring with Tive

Today any global supply chain is rife with risks due to several factors that are well beyond our control. The ongoing pandemic, geo-political conflicts (the Russo-Ukraine war, for instance), labor shortages, adverse weather events, natural disasters, and more add to the cauldron of uncertainties inherent in shipping goods domestically and across international borders. When shipments require temperature-controlled logistics, otherwise known as the cold chain, things get even more complicated. In this shipping realm, experiencing even a slight temperature excursion beyond the acceptable range could result in significant financial losses or worse–the loss of human lives. With the stakes this high, cold chain temperature monitoring with Tive is an essential solution for anyone shipping or receiving temperature-controlled items. Real-time location and temperature data allow for informed decisions to mitigate effectively when uncontrollable disruptions threaten your shipments.

Inside Cold Chain: Why Temperature Monitoring is Important

The primary purpose of cold chain is to ensure that perishable items avoid temperature excursions. Failure to maintain the correct temperatures during transit or storage could adversely affect the efficacy of certain drugs, such as the COVID vaccines or thousands of other pharmaceutical products. A single pharma shipment could be worth millions of dollars, and cumulatively the biopharma industry alone loses $34 billion each year because of temperature-control failures across their supply chain, according to the IQVIA Institute for Human Data Science. 

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Likewise, the food industry relies on temperature monitoring to ensure shipments are of high enough quality to sell and consume. As explained by GlobalTranz, “The most common temperature standards are “banana” (13 degrees C), “Chill” (2 degrees C) and “Frozen” (-18 degrees C), and “Deep Frozen” (-29 degrees C). Staying within these temperatures is vital to the integrity of a shipment along the cold supply chain and for perishables, it enables optimal shelf life. Any divergence can result in irrevocable and expensive damage.”

According to U.S. grocery retailers, an estimated $18 billion in food arrives in their stores spoiled and unusable. This includes items from the following categories, and each may have its specific temperature requirement:

• Meat, Fish, & Seafood
• Fruits & Vegetables
• Dairy & Frozen Desserts
• Bakery & Confectionary
• Fresh Flowers
• Wine

How Tive Provides Temperature-Controlled Shipment Tracking

In terms of monitoring temperature-sensitive shipments, Tive offers a complete line of single or multi-use trackers that feature one of the industry’s strongest batteries. Each tracker is NIST traceable and accurate to within +0.5°C, and the entire lineup offers reliability and flexibility you can trust. For instance, the Tive Solo 5G tracker is single or multi-use and features condition sensors that monitor temperatures ranging from -20°C to 60°C and location, light, humidity, and shock for shipments across all modes—ground, ocean, air, and rail.

Tive takes a proactive, automated approach to management and oversight, providing full transparency through robust track-and-trace capabilities that kick in from the point of production to end delivery and storage. Tive’s trackers and cloud-base application provide: 

• Real-time visibility – Instantly view actionable data regarding cold chain shipments’ current location and condition in real-time to ensure OTIF deliveries.
• Configurable alerts and notifications – Set the parameters according to what is most relevant to your shipments and receive real-time notifications when issues arise.
• Robust reporting and analytics capabilities – From the moment a Tive tracker is in place and activated, it records valuable information that can be analyzed to identify areas of improvement. 

It’s an all-encompassing solution that provides cold chain logistics service providers with reliable connectivity, real-time tracking, and actionable insights to preserve, protect and optimize cold shipments globally.

With Tive, every shipment matters. We helped one of our clients save a $500,000 pharma shipment in mid-trip, thanks to an alert triggered by the multi-sensor 5G SOLO tracker. And we can do the same for any cold chain shipment that requires temperature monitoring. Schedule a demo today to get started.