When transporting temperature-sensitive goods such as foods or pharmaceutical products, maintaining the cold/temperature chain plays a crucial role in ensuring impeccable quality. This means that, from the time of manufacture right up to consumption by the end customer, an appropriate, product-specific temperature control must be guaranteed. With the Freshcode, ECOCOOL’s portfolio now includes not only the optimal packaging solutions for these products but also the ideal instrument for professional monitoring of cold and temperature chains. Dr Florian Siedenburg presents the newest member of the ECOCOOL product family.
What does the Freshcode do?
With the Freshcode, we offer our customers another patented technology designed to record and monitor cold chains. Regardless of the packaging size, i.e. for example on pallets, in cartons or in individual packages, it is ideally suited to cold chain monitoring. In contrast to conventional temperature indicators, the Freshcode does not change colour if deviations from the desired temperature occur. On the basis of chemical processes, the indicator displays a different bar code from the one shown in the ‘normal’ state.
How does the Freshcode work?
Basically, it’s very simple. After activation, the Freshcode can be scanned in using the bar code at every stage of the transport chain, and the user is immediately informed of the state of the goods through an app using a traffic light system (green = OK, amber = minor deviation, red = major deviation). Using this barcode scanning function, all parties involved at both the sending and receiving end can be informed in real time and decide what to do with the goods. These may be wholesalers, freight forwarders or retailers, for example. For pharmaceutical products, these could also be laboratories, pharmacies etc.
A crucial advantage of the Freshcode is that the scan also enables geo-coordinates to be sent to a Cloud-based IT system. There is also the possibility of combining shipment information, such as a consignment note bar code, for example, with the Freshcode in order to assign the Freshcode uniquely to the goods concerned all the way to the recipient.
Is it necessary to purchase additional hardware in order to use the Freshcode?
No, no hardware purchase is necessary: the indicator, which can be attached to cartons or individual packages, can be read by a bar code scanner or by a mobile phone with an installed app.
Is the data saved?
Yes, we use a Cloud-based system for data analysis. Of course, data and datasets in the food sector can also be used for the HACCP plan. It can be used as an interface to systems which are already in use.
Is the Freshcode suitable only for a predefined temperature range?
There are various indicators for very diverse requirements, starting in the low temperature range, via 5°C/8°C/10°C up to 25°C, which is typically used in pharmaceutical logistics.
Does the Freshcode offer other advantages?
The Freshcode is a highly efficient, as well as economical solution for the food and pharmaceutical supply chain. The indicator itself is universally applicable and is situated in the same price range as conventional colour indicators. For larger purchase volumes, a unit price of under one euro can be achieved, which means that it can be applied in many areas of temperature-sensitive transport. Thus, the Freshcode provides optimal results and enables enormous potential savings compared with other methods used for monitoring cold and temperature chains.