US-based cold chain management company DeltaTrak is working with Deutsche Telekom and Ericsson to provide global tracking and monitoring data for perishable food and biopharmaceutical products. An announcement says DeltaTrak is working with Ericsson “through Deutsche Telekom”; it adds that the firm is using Ericsson’s IoT Accelerator platform “through Deutsche Telekom’s global connectivity”.
Ericsson’s IoT Accelerator platform is a cellular IoT management platform that affords a single pane of glass to deploy, manage, and scale IoT devices across international markets; it plugs into a single core network, run by Ericsson, and a global roster of IoT airtime roaming partners, to enable enterprise users and solution providers, as well as mobile operators, to rollout IoT solutions in most countries.
Deutsche Telekom has used the service to stand-up the DeltaTrak solution for global fleet management; the airtime contract is with the German operator. Ericsson’s platform has an ecosystem strand, as well, offering pre-tested IoT devices and solutions to further simplify the process to launch cellular IoT solutions. DeltaTrack wants to “drive cold chain traceability enhancements” through “the entirety of the transit process”, said Ericsson.
The DeltaTrak solution will increase food and pharma safety and reduce wastage, said Ericsson. A press statement made noise about “global logistics disruptions, widespread food shortages, and environmental crises”. It said: “One-third of food produced in the world is lost or wasted – highlighting the importance of having holistic and real-time data on food in transit to ensure… humidity and temperature are maintained.”
It went on: “Apart from food spoilage during transport, an additional challenge is that between 5-10 percent of shipping containers are typically held in quarantine upon reaching port, pending temperature verification. If these containers are opened, the goods are prone to loss and waste.” The statement quoted the Environmental Protection Agency, that food loss results in 170 million metric tons of CO2 emissions per year in the US, and the United Nations, that the number of undernourished people grew by 150 million globally between 2019 and 2022.
Frederick Wu, chief executive and founder at DeltaTrak, commented: “Representing the latest innovations from DeltaTrak, the cellular IoT enhancements enable our patented ecosystem offerings to deliver end-to-end chain of custody capabilities. Actionable data visibility from real-time FlashTrak Chain of Custody eCosystem can improve product shelf-life, reduce spoilage, food waste and CO2 emissions.”
Kyle Okamoto, general manager for IoT at Ericsson, said: “Bettering cold chain tracking technology undoubtedly benefits the food logistics industry, but the advantages stretch beyond that. By boosting real-time traceability of location and environmental conditions… we will significantly promote supply chain transparency by eliminating blind spots and allowing goods to be monitored from origin to destination. This in turn will also help the environment.”
