WHAT IS COLD CHAIN LOGISTICS?
Logistics is not only moving the goods from one place to another but also carrying the goods with the specified conditions to maintain the quality of goods. Accordingly, while storing and shipping, certain products are required to be stored under specific temperatures to maintain the quality of the products, called temperature-sensitive products. The process of handling the overall logistics function of these temperature-sensitive products throughout the supply chain to preserve the quality is called Cold chain Logistics.
In the early 1930s, the initial cold chain logistics operation began with an air cooling unit in a truck to carry perishable goods, later on, it was developed in all modes of transportation via road, sea, and air. In the 21st century, the advancement of technology improved the traceability of shipments, and temperature monitoring systems have maintained the quality of the goods till they reach the delivery point effectively and the global cold chain market value is approximately 342.8 billion US dollars.
Generally, consumers expect to experience every unique product from various destinations as a need or want. For instance, as a need, certain pharmaceutical products need to be shipped across the world as needed to diagnose a disease, whereas, as a want, certain food essences are transported to experience the different tastes. The chart shown below contains the major industries practicing cold chain operations along with the trade value in the last 4 years (Data source - Precedence research). It is noticeable that the volume of cold logistic operations increased in all the industries in past years.
With the current records, several research institutes have analyzed anticipated cold chain logistics value and CAGR rate in coming years within the respective period is shown below. This research is conducted with the limitation of the region from North America (U.S, Canada, Mexico), European countries (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, UK, Russia, and Rest of Europe), China, Japan, India, South Korea, Australia, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Asia-Pacific regions), LAMEA (Brazil, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Argentina, rest of the countries)
Research analysis of the anticipated Cold chain value
Do you think only maintaining the temperature as per the instructions will prevent the items from getting wasted? No. It is required to do special packaging to protect the items from getting damaged during transportation. For instance, Fruits can only be shipped in corrugated boxes to maintain freshness, ventilation, and moisture resistance. General packaging damages the entire product, it is necessary to do the appropriate packaging for the items along with the indication in the boxes for the handling person to get aware of the handling instructions and mention in the shipping documents the special care of the shipment. Here are some symbols for special care packaging.
However, packaging with all the instructions will support only to minimize the risk of getting damaged or to protect against temperature-controlling errors. The risks in processing cool shipments are high compared to the general cargo and there are more chances for these products manufactured with less shelf life. Therefore, it is suggested that companies have effective inventory and order planning to control the wastage. The most common risk mitigation strategy is to have a clean marine insurance policy for every cold chain logistics activity in shipping, delivery, loading and unloading,storage, packaging, and manufacturing to overcome the financial loss for the company.
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