Introduction
Cold chain logistics is the maintenance of a constant temperature of products throughout the demand-supply chain right from the time of harvesting to when the product reaches the consumer. It involves a series of distribution activities coupled with storage that maintains a given temperature constant. This temperature ensures a prolonged shelf life of products such as pharmaceutical drugs, chemicals, agricultural products and frozen food and photographic film. Therefore, a good cold chain will maintain the products quality and reduce spoilage. Its major characteristic is that, if any of the links is broken, then the whole system would be rendered useless.
Cold chain logistics infrastructure
Its main infrastructure consists of:
Farm processing center
This center should be equipped with facilities such as weighing balances, sorting machines, grading waxing machines, packaging machines, pre-coolers, cold storage and normal storage.
Weighing facilities
The weighing facility required is a check weigher, which is an automated machine specifically designed to weigh packaged produce. They are very efficient with a capability of weighing more than 500 products per minute. They are normally found at the end of the product production line, used for ensuring that all products fall within the required weight limits. These machines are very accurate. Other devices have also been incorporated such as the x-ray machines and metal detectors for detecting any illegal substances or defects within the package and therefore, ensuring that the product going out of the production line meets the specified standards. Their accuracy and speed can be influenced by the following factors; the motor technology in use, the packaged content (which can be liquid or solid), the weight and length of the package, the line speed specified and interference from air flow that causes reading errors among others.
The advantage of using check weighers include;
They can be used for counting the packages and hence makes it easy to know the number in transit. They can also give the total weight of the package in transit. They can also print on the package labels containing the produce information, readable by barcodes. These labels can then act as a medium of checking the products at the point of reception, thus helping in ensuring product security while on transit.
They are also used for quality assurance management. Example, a produce that has been brought directly from the farm is weighed while still fresh and again weighed later after packing and cooling ready for sale in the market. This is done to ensure that the product released to the market has not lost weight below the minimum required, meaning that the quality of the product has been maintained as though it were from the farm then.
These machines can also be integrated with other security systems such as metal detectors, temperature sensors, x-ray machines and vision inspectors among others that can be used for enhancing the security of the finished packaged products by ensuring that they don’t contain illegal substances.
These machines are also used for faster processing of small products such as pharmaceuticals. They can also be designed in different shape and sizes, can be operated under extreme conditions such us in deep freezers and in ovens, they can also be designed to hang from ceilings or rest on floors depending where is used.
Their speed can also be controlled; therefore the rate at which the produce goes to the boxing machine can be reduced or increased according to demand. When more boxes are required in a short period of time, the speed is increased for faster movement of the products.
Check weighers can also be operated 24/7 throughout the year without fatigue. This is a big advantage against the human labor which becomes fatigued after a short period of time.
Sorting machines
They are used for separating unwanted items from the produce into some predetermined groupings. Example, when the maize cobs are brought from the farm, the sorting machine will be used for separating the maize from the cobs. Then the maize will be grouped separately waiting treatment and packaging while the cobs will be grouped together waiting their disposal. Different types of sorting machines are in use today;
The kick sorters that move items such as cartons form one end of the conveyor belt to the other end.
The pop-up sorters which are bidirectional and uses rising and falling rollers between belts and the paddle sorters which similarly are bidirectional but use overhead paddles.
The cross-head sorters which are used for handling many types of produce of different weights and sizes, and also perform identification and labeling operations where they have been incorporated with other equipment.
Since the sorting operations are automated, the speed at which the produce is handled is much faster.
Packaging
This involves the processes of enclosing products either for distribution, sale, storage and or use. It’s also the processes involved in the preparation of goods for transportation, logistics and warehousing. The advantages of parking produce include:
It provides physical protection against damage from shock, temperature, vibrations among others that may harm the produce while in transportation.
It provides barrier protection against atmospheric conditions such as penetration of water vapor and oxygen that provide the necessary conditions for growth of micro-organisms that causes damage to agricultural products. Some packages consist of modified atmospheres such as the beverages that help keep them fresh and safe for the intended long period of time on the shelf.
The packaging is also an important medium for communicating the type of product, how to transport it, its usage and disposal.
It also serves as a marketing medium of the product. A good and attractive packaging can be used to entice buyers to buy a product. Therefore, its labeling which normally requires the services of a graphics designer must also be very good.
Packaging provides security to the produce while on transit. They can be made tamper proof therefore making it harder for anybody to interfere with the goods on transit. They can be made to reduce chances of package pilferage by including authentication seals and pilfer proof seals. They can also have electronic tags detectable by special devices at the exit points.
It is used for containment of smaller products by grouping them together in single packages for ease of handling, hence, makes it convenient and easy to handle and distribute these goods.
The common types of food packaging include; cans for tomatoes, cartons for eggs, bags for potato chips, and plastic trays for fish which are all primary packages. Secondary packages include; boxes for cola or the beverages and the tertiary packages include; pallets for packing a series of boxes for distribution, and wrappers for wrapping boxes on pallets.
It is important that the packaging work be done by special packaging machines rather than by human hands. This is because, a human hand cannot produce the perfect tampering proof seals required or generally the expected high quality packaging. Human hands are also slow, hence cannot handle as much produce that can be handled by a machine. Their choices would range within their labor requirements, maintenance requirements, and ability to be integrated with other machines in the packaging line, their technical capabilities, initial cost, expected quality of packages, efficiency, productivity and their qualifications either for drugs and pharmaceuticals or for food packaging. The general types of packaging equipment used include:-
The cartooning machines which have been specifically designed for forming the packaging cartons; cleaning, sterilizing, cooling and drying machines, filling machines, conveying and accumulating machines and form wrapping machines among others.
Precooling facilities
These are facilities designed for rapid removal of products heat. They include; forced-air cooling, hydro-cooling, cold wall system, the serpentine air system, package icing, vacuum cooling and room cooling
Forced-air cooling is the most widely used method for fruits and vegetables. The cooling medium used is a refrigerated air which is forced through boxes packed with produce. Several designs of air flow systems are used with the tunnel design being common. The products are cooled in batches, where the packages are arranged in two rows each on either side of the air-return channel and then a fan in a tarp draws air through the product. Normally, the time it takes for effective cooling using this system ranges from 1 hour to more than 6 hours for cut flowers to larger fruits respectively.
Hydro-cooling system uses a system of showers to spray cold water over the produce or the produce are directly immersed in a pool of cold water. The cooling effect is much faster with the shower system since water flows though the produce faster, thereby carrying their heat away. This system is even a faster cooler than the forced-air cooling systems, and they can also rehydrate wilted products since loss of moisture does not occur. “Hydro-coolers can be fairly energy efficient and are the least expensive cooling method to purchase (Thompson, 1999)”.
The serpentine air system is used for cooling products packed in pallet bins. This system is usually used for cooling produce partially that will be cooled later after proper packaging. This system is used for long term storage and makes use of the cold room space efficiently.
The cold wall system is used for cooling smaller products where each package is placed against a plenum wall. This wall usually has lower air pressure than the room and therefore air is drawn from the product through this wall. The main disadvantage of this system is that the floor space is underutilized hence requires a lot of attention since each package is individually cooled.
With packaging icing, the produce is packed with flacked ice. This is also a faster method of heat removal from the produce. This method helps maintain high humidity around the produce and hence no moisture loss. But it has several disadvantages including; the ice flakes increases the produce weight, the melted water can damage other goods in transportation incase other commodities which are prone to rust are transported together, its operating costs are very high and requires a water tight and proof packaging which is also expensive.
With vacuum cooling, water is made to evaporate from the produce rapidly, where, “water loss of about 1% causes 6oC (11oF) product cooling (Barger, 1963).” Normally, the produce is sprayed with water before cooling to minimize loss of water.
Room cooling; here products are exposed to the cold air hence loss of heat occurs much faster than when the product is packed into boxes and therefore shielded from the cold air. The cold room consists of evenly spaced cooling systems that ensure an even circulation of the cold air throughout the room.
Cold storage
Is a form of refrigeration. Is applied to fresh foods since it retards their biochemical changes, and therefore, slowing down micro-organisms growth which contaminate the food. Cold storage helps in extending the produce life beyond the harvest season, hence ensuring a constant supply of fruits and vegetables throughout the planting to harvesting seasons. Its major disadvantage is that is an expensive storage method therefore only useful for those produce that can fetch higher prices in the market.
Normal storage
The definition of normal storage conditions according to WHO is, “storage in dry, well-ventilated premises at temperatures of 15-25°C or, depending on climatic conditions, up to 30°C. Extraneous odors, contamination, and intense light have to be excluded (World Health Organization, 2011).” This definition is not entirely true for all areas because of the different climatic conditions. Hence, the normal condition is subject to a specific area in a study.
The storage conditions of the produce on shelf must be favorable in cases where refrigeration is not available. Example, vegetables brought directly from the farm can be stored under the room conditions for some time before transported to advanced facilities where their final processing will be done before they are ready for export. The rooms for normal storage can have racks for arranging the farm products in a series of vertical stacks with enough spacing in-between them, to allow proper ventilation. The room must have very good ventilation system to allow a uniform circulation of air throughout.
These facilities are very important where the farmer or the manufacture cannot afford to purchase refrigerators. They are cheaper to operate and maintain. They are also used in areas whose environmental conditions cannot favor the growth of molds on food produce, example in the Scandinavian countries.
Refrigerated carriers
These are companies operating trucks which have been customized to transport temperature sensitive products. The trucks are normally fitted with refrigeration facilities (temperature reefer units) on their trailers that keep the special products at constant temperature. They are normally used for transporting foods such as fish, grains, milk and meat and pharmaceuticals.
Ships are also equipped with temperature reefer units. These units were invented because some countries were not developed enough to produce and process the perishable food stuffs while others had excess of these products hence justifying the use of such carriers to export and supply whenever and wherever needed. There are three types of such ships;
The multipurpose vessels: – which serves both as a passenger carrier and a reefer ship. The refrigerated area is normally below the ship while the upper section is reserved for the passengers.
The refrigerated containers: – these ships only carry the reefer containers. These containers are powered by generators from the D.G sets of the ships. Their refrigeration units are normally fitted in the front part of the containers.
There are ships that use some specialized ramp to load and haul refrigerated cargo. These are the most common ships in the industry today.
The refer units consist of the compressor, condenser and the evaporator sections. The compressor section consists of storage compartment for the power cable, the compressor, modulating and suction solenoid, and the safety fittings. The condenser section consists of the condenser fan and its motor, saturation sensor and condenser coil. The evaporator section consists of temperature sensing bulb, thermostat valve and a recorder bulb sensor.
Warehousing
A warehouse is a building dedicated for storage of goods in large quantities. They are important facilities to the manufactures, transporters, customs at the borders, exporters and importers, and the wholesalers. They are usually large and open for maximum utilization of their storage capacity. They are normally constructed closer to railway terminals, the airports and the seaports at the cargo handling section. Plants such as cranes and forklifts are used for lifting and moving the heavy containers full of goods.
Currently, most warehouses are automated having systems such as conveyors, automated storage and retrieval systems and cranes which are computer controlled. The advantage of such warehouses is that they can be refrigerated allowing goods to be kept at some critically low temperatures, unfavorable for human operation. They can also make use of the vertical space efficiently.
The warehouses of our interest are those fitted with cold storage. They are used for storing agricultural products, electronic goods, and drugs that require very low temperature for preservation. For agricultural products, they eliminate any chances of rotting, sprouting and tuber moth damage and also prevent the loss of weight due to loss of water through evaporation. Very low storage temperatures are required,-25oC, and their storage limit is normally one year. The main advantage of cold storage is that, it allows the market to stabilize given time, and evenly distributes the demand throughout the year. Hence, manufactures and farmers can continue producing their products throughout the year with little fluctuations of prices.
These warehouses are normally fitted with Ammonia and Freon compressors. Refrigerators with ammonia compressors are cheaper and readily available in the market fully with spare parts. Their latent heat of evaporation is usually high, but they can also be very poisonous and become explosive when mixed with oil containing carbon in high percentage levels.
The major types of refrigeration systems in cold storage warehousing include; the Vapor Absorption System (VAS) and the Vapor Compression System (VCS). The vapor absorption refrigerators use external heat source such as kerosene flame or heat from industrial waste to provide the energy for driving the cooling systems. They are cheaper than vapor compression refrigerators that use electricity which is usually costly and subject to blackouts, and the compressors produce a lot of noise.
Information management systems
These systems are required for managing the cold chain logistics efficiently and effectively. They consist of three major resources including; the people, technology and information. The people consist of the senior managerial team, going down to the junior level staffs that provide their services in support of the cold chain logistics activities. The management is concerned with making the critical decisions that will affect the overall performance of the cold chain. They also plan the step by step activities of the cold chain to identify and eliminate any loopholes that might render the chain useless. They also control the cold chain activities to ensure that their key objectives are achieved in an efficient and cost effective manner. The role of the junior staff is to execute the activities of the cold chain logistics according to their assignments. They are the ones who ensure that the specified specifications have been followed to the letter.
Technology involves using computers with appropriate management systems that can be used by the managers to perform tasks such as; produce tracking while on transit, making critical decisions about the market situation in case of serious price fluctuations and other managerial functions.
The major advantages of incorporating technology in information management of the cold chain logistics include:
- Improved cost effectiveness right from processing to dispatching and selling of produce to the market. Many products can be handled within a short span of time without loss of information.
- Improved decision making; powerful software capable of performing analysis are used to analyze market situations and hence, help in making the most appropriate decision regarding the mood of the market at any particular time. Example, a farmer can decide to increase or decrease his products prices because of some future market predictions.
- Improved products security, since they can be easily tracked right from the time they leave the factory to the time they are delivered to the customer. This will involve incorporating tracking devices to the packages.
Industry’s scan of cold chain logistics
Handling of vaccines
Cold chain logistics is used widely for handling and transportation of vaccines around the world. “An effective logistics system and a well-maintained cold chain are essential for safe and effective immunization service delivery (USAID from the American People, July 2008).” For example it has been successfully applied in Tanzania which has expanded its immunization program. The cold chain and logistics sections is in charge of conducting any field tests of newly acquired equipment, it’s also in charge of forecasting future equipment needs and demands, procuring any needed equipment and distributes it across the provinces in the country.
At the hospital level, different kinds of refrigerators have been acquired that uses different sources of energy such as electricity, kerosene and solar panels that enable them to run 24/7 throughout the year, storing vaccines.
The expanded immunization program has put much weight in monitoring of the vaccines stocks to ensure they don’t run out at any particular time, and also monitoring the temperature at the various levels of storage to ensure that the vaccines are kept at the optimum conditions suitable for their long term storage.
Training of the junior level staff is done on-job, while the medical officers in charge of the districts and provinces at the headquarters are in charge of the cold chain, performing supervisory tasks. The junior staff have also received technical training that help them repair the compressors of refrigerators in case they breakdown.
Handling food products
Cold chain management is used in India for handling its food products even though its full potential is still untapped. India is the 2nd largest producer of food in the world next to china, with an estimated annual wastage of agricultural produce of about 30 – 35%. It’s the second highest producer of vegetables, fruits and milk in the world, and 5th world producer of eggs. Approximately, 52% of India is cultivable. It’s the world center for biodiversity both in micro-organisms, insects, animals and plants and it accounts for “17% animal, 12% plants and 10% fish genetic. Resources of the globe. In the livestock sector, India has 16% of cattle, 57% of buffalo, 17% of goats and 5 % of sheep population of the world. Agriculture contributes 24.2% to GDP, 15.2% of total exports and provides employment to 58.4% of country’s work force (Viswanadham, n.d.).”
India’s cold chain logistics can be divided into a number of sectors including; agricultural, fisheries and aquaculture, and horticulture. Food reaches the consumers through several stages with the main being; directly from farmers while it’s still fresh, through the retailers such as the supermarkets which sell well packaged produce and through the caterers from the manufacturer.
India has a wide range of food processing sector covering both vegetables and fruits. Example, milk and milk products, confectionery, soya-based products, alcoholic beverages, meat and poultry among others
The major food manufactures in India include; Ruchi Soya, Nestle, Dabur, Britannia, beverage companies such as the Coca-Cola and Pepsi companies; while its main exporters include, the B.S Sea Foods ltd, ELMAC Foods, Nila Sea Foods, among others , all who have applied the cold chain logistics infrastructure as discussed above.
Strategic analysis of cold chain logistics
SWOT analysis
This analysis is useful for understanding the existing situation, and thus helps the management to make the most appropriate decision. SWOT stands for; Strength, Weakness, Opportunities, Threats. This analysis uses a 2×2 matrix where the Strengths and Weaknesses are due to internal factors and Opportunities and Threats are due to external factors.
PEST analysis
PEST stands for Political, Economic, Social and Technological issues that can affect the normal operations of a business. It identifies the key external environmental factors that would affect the operations.
The table below lists the possible factors that could affect the cold chain logistics
Recommendations
From the analysis above, it’s apparent that the cold chain logistics is better equipped to handle perishable products. The following recommendations can thus be drawn;
Any firm venturing into agribusiness should incorporate cold chain logistics because; it will help in prolonging their products shelf life and also maintenance of product quality for a long period of time.
Such firms should also employ highly skilled personnel to handle their products. Cold chain logistics is an expensive way of handling products hence, to reap maximum profits from products to be sold, they must be handled with a lot of care to eliminate possibilities of any damage occurring.
It’s important for such firms to carefully study each country’s legislature regarding handling and processing of farm produce, because they differ from one country to the next depending on the governing body in-charge of formulating standards for foods and poisons. The standards of the products must also fall within the WHO requirements of a safe produce.
The firm must also study the market trends of the products intended to be distributed using cold chain logistics. This will help the firm in ensuring a constant supply of such products and hence reduce chances of high price fluctuations caused by oversupply or high demand.
The firm must also study the potential competitors in the market, then basing on their weaknesses, capitalize on the available opportunities. Example, if the competitors have poor systems of cold chain, the new firm should provide a good and efficient system, whose services are attractive and cost effective.
Firms venturing into this system should constantly be on the lookout for new technological developments that would improve their efficiency and service delivery.
Conclusion
To reap the maximum benefits from cold chain logistics, the system’s infrastructure must all operate very efficiently and in perfect co-ordination. Failure in one part will render the whole system useless. Since a lot of capital and resources have been invested in such systems, it will therefore be a big loss both to the investors and the county’s economy. On the other hand, if functions properly, the income that would be generated for both parties would be so great. In addition to that, it will also lead to a boom in the agricultural industry; increased production, creation of more employment opportunities among others.
References
Barger, W.R., 1963. Vacuum cooling: A comparison of cooling different vegetables. USDA Mkt. Res. Rep. No. 600.
Thompson, J. F., 1999. Cold-storage systems. In: F.W. Bakker-Arkema (ed) CIGR Hdbk Agric. Eng., Vol. IV, ASAE, St. Joseph MI, pp. 339-361.
USAID from the American People, July 2008. Cold Chain and Logistics Management: An Essential Part of Safe and Effective Vaccination Programs. Immunization Snapshots. [online] (8). Web.
Viswanadham N., n.d. Can India be the Food Basket For the world?. Web.
World Health Organization, 2011. Marketing Authorization of Pharmaceutical Products with Special Reference to Multisource (Generic) Products: A Manual for Drug Regulatory Authorities – Regulatory Support Series. (005). Web.