The safety and quality of fish products depend on the application of a series of good operational practices and the constant monitoring of critical points in the supply chain by operators. In addition, consumers are becoming increasingly aware of the Food Safety and Quality of the products they buy.

Getting full visibility of all the temperature and traceability data related to the various parts of the supply chain – starting with the exit of the products from the supplier's company, through the processing and storage phases and up to the shipment towards the sales channels – ensures that the cold chain has not been interrupted, gives the guarantee that the fish products fall within an advanced Food Safety framework and contributes substantially to the increase in added value thanks to significant savings, achieved by optimizing various parts of the supply chain.

The challenge

An Italian company that imports fish products from Asian markets and distributes them to its Ho.Re.Ca. and large-scale retail sales channels identified the need to implement in-depth monitoring of cold chain and traceability data of those products, from the moment they left the suppliers' warehouse until they arrived at the company.

The company also wanted to control and manage the temperature data of cold rooms used for processing and storage of imported products – transforming those data into information shared by the supply chain – to learn about the performance of cold rooms and warehouse operators.

There was also a need to digitalize the data on quality controls carried out during the preparation of loads for delivery to customers, in order to standardize the temperature conditions of outgoing vehicles and ensure compliance with HACCP regulations.

Finally, the company wanted to obtain real-time visibility of the temperature and localization data of the products in transit towards its customers, receiving notifications when the temperatures of the loads exceeded predetermined thresholds, risking compromising the integrity of the cold chain and consequently the Food Safety of the fish products.

Our solution

Wenda granted the company access to the all-in-one digital Platform to govern Food traceability data starting from the cold chain.
In order to guarantee a convenient and efficient service, but at the same time specific for each use case, Wenda established partnerships with the best suppliers of data loggers and measuring equipment, and provided the following devices to the importing company:

• Bluetooth infrared thermometric gun (IR gun)
• USB data loggers for temperature recording
• Wi-fi data loggers for real-time temperature in the warehouse
• Data logger for real-time localization and temperature of the shipment

As the company had expressed the desire to control and manage data related to multiple phases of the supply chain, Wenda provided several Modules, each dedicated to a precise and well-defined phase: used in combination, in fact, the Modules allow to obtain full process visibility and make effective decisions, rationalize costs, increase profits and enhance the level of service.

Find out how the different Modules of the Wenda Platform can enhance your operations!

With regards to the Inbound Module, the Asian supplier placed a USB data logger in the container prior to the shipment's departure to record temperature data during transport to Italy. When the load arrived at the company, with the IR gun the operator detected the temperature of containers and products at the time of delivery to get an immediate indication in the App whether to accept or not the products according to the progress of the journey. The operator retrieved the data logger and downloaded the data for a subsequent statistical analysis. He also compiled a checklist of the status of the vehicle and the visual appearance of the goods, also in the App. All the data collected were automatically processed and made available, together with the data of the following phases, to the Quality and Warehouse managers, according to different levels of data access for different employees.

Then the processing phase was carried out using the Storage Module: this process took place in two cold rooms kept at -50° C and monitored by the Platform with wi-fi data loggers. An operator detected the temperature of the products with the IR gun, at the beginning and at the end of the process, to understand the variations in this phase. The data were automatically passed from the IR gun to the App, from which they were sent to the Platform with a simple command.
Once the process was completed, the products were placed in a cold room at -20 °C, together with wi-fi data loggers connected to the App and Platform to monitor their temperature in real time. The data were automatically entered into the Platform, to evaluate the conditions of the stored products, verify the performance of the cold rooms, save time in Quality Control and reporting processes, show compliance with HACCP protocols.

When preparing the shipments to the sales channels, the Outbound Module was used: the operator detected with the IR gun both the temperatures of the products when they were taken from the cold rooms and those of the truck that was then used for transport. These data were then automatically transmitted to the App and Platform. The operator entered in the App the names of the product, the recipient customer, the transporter and the means of transport, and filled in a Checklist on the temperature status of the vehicle according to the HACCP regulations.

Once the shipment preparation procedures were completed, the 2G/3G data loggers and containers with the products were placed inside the vehicle and the shipment departed to the sales channels, leveraging the features of the Shipment Module. The Platform was able to provide Quality Control and Sales managers with real-time visibility of both the temperature data of the products shipped to customers and the localization of the cargo. Through the Platform, the company was able to set up automatic email alerts to be sent to shipment managers.

Discover all you can do thanks to the uniqueness of the Wenda Platform!

Benefits

Enhanced service and differentiation from competitors
The company has been able to make a leap forward in the quality of the service offered, since its goal is not only to sell a genuine product, but to sell products of the best possible quality, in which respect for the cold chain and the resulting Food Safety are an integral part of the added value, and which can then be sold without problems by distributors and restaurateurs - who are the company's end customers. This strengthening of the service has also guaranteed a top position in the market, giving the company the opportunity to present itself as a point of reference in terms of product quality and to affirm a considerable competitive differentiation.

Full visibility of temperature and traceability data for various parts of the supply chain
With the combined use of all Modules, the importing company was able to achieve end-to-end visibility of the supply chain, from the warehouse of its Asian supplier up to the arrival of the product to its end customer. It was able to identify critical points in its supply chain, paving the way for better governance of future shipments and improved product care.

Continuity of the cold chain and reduction of Food Safety costs
The monitoring of all the parts of the chain crossed by the products has ensured the knowledge of the temperature data and consequently the maintenance of the cold chain. The use of the Wenda Platform has shortened and simplified the Quality Control procedures, generating statistics and reports, thus reducing Food Safety costs.

Advanced temperature data management of cold rooms used for processing and storage 
Being fully aware of the temperature conditions of the cold rooms in which fish products are processed and stored has represented a great added value for the company: knowing in time which cold rooms tend to deviate from the desired performance strengthens the possibility to intervene at the right time, avoiding future problems of product preservation and thus reducing costs. The automation of the HACCP checklists, moreover, saves time and therefore cuts warehouse management time and costs.