Refrigerated Containers Monitoring & Management

Some people may know Malcom McLean – the inventor of the freight container – but who is Berners-Lee? Tim Berners-Lee developed the basic idea of the World Wide Web (WWW).

More than 60 years after the invention of the sea container and the predecessor of the WWW both technologies rule the world. Both technologies are valued as equally disruptive for mankind as the invention of the letterpress by Johannes Gutenberg in the 15th century.

Decarbonisation starts and ends with energy consumption. But where to start? Monitoring energy usage of refrigerated containers gives you a starting point to evaluate before investments are made. That's clever.

Monitoring of refrigerated containers must include monitoring energy consumption as well to learn about processes, maintenance and in-time repairs of reefers. Energy efficiency of reefer operations is only possible when consumption is monitored and managed in an intelligent way.

Economically, fishing is the main thing in Namibia, besides mining. The nutrient-rich cold Benguela current along the Namibian coast supports a vibrant fishing industry that harvests fish, lobsters and crabs in an area of 1,570 km and 200 nautical miles westwards into the Atlantic Ocean, from the northern border of South Africa to the southern border to Angola. That's a long coastline, home to seal colonies and schools of flamingos.

That's why refrigerated containers play an important role in Namibia's fishing industry. 90% of the catch is exported, partly canned, partly refrigerated. The port of Walvis Bay constitutes a vital link in exporting fish and fish products from Namibia to a global market.

For a while, energy consumption wasn't a big issue, or at least wasn't seen as such: As long as the environmental impact was not immediately noticeable, energy costs and needs were manageable, and the economy flourished, the topic was present, but not urgent. However, those circumstances have changed, and radically so.

Due to the recent cost explosion, container ports' energy consumption is increasingly becoming operators' focus. 

In this blog post, we discuss why it is essential to keep a close eye on the power usage of refrigerated containers and how this enables financial savings benefits.

Medicine, and with it drugs, goes far back into human history. But it was only with the uniting of single apothecaries, their collaboration with chemical laboratories, significant discoveries and, last but not least, the possibilities of mass production and refrigerated transport that we were able to create the healthcare environment as we know it today.

In this article, we discuss the complexity of the supply chain of pharmaceuticals.

Discover the vital role of sustainable cold chains in our journey towards a greener future. From the early days of frozen foods to the modern challenges of environmental impacts, learn how innovation and conscious choices can reshape our world. Dive into the article, "A Sustainable Cold Chain for a Cooler Tomorrow", to explore how we can balance freshness with responsibility and shape a sustainable, eco-friendly tomorrow.

The global reefer container market is significantly increasing at a CAGR of 8.8%. The Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, in particular, is a major force in this market, accounting for 60% of the global share in 2023. Driven by economic growth, increasing demand for perishable goods, and technological innovation, APAC's dominant market position is underpinned by its significant contribution to global trade, the challenges it faces, and the opportunities it presents for the future of temperature-controlled logistics. In this blog post, we discuss the reefer service market for the coming years.

In most ports, terminal automation primarily focuses on container handling while the monitoring of individual containers is done manually. Energy monitoring is key in keeping the temperature of perishables at the right levels, but it is a very labor-intensive job as the temperature setting and monitoring are often done manually. Lack of available labor as well as human errors often result in temperatures not staying at the required levels and fresh produce going to waste.

According to international transport insurer TT Club, refrigerated container incidents have been one of the leading causes of insurance claims in the transportation industry over the past three years with human error being the cause in a majority of cases.

Container Terminals are hazardous places: Dockers may be dealing with a variety of vessels, people and weather under the pressure of a tight timetable. These ever-changing circumstances lead to ever-changing risks. Companies must address and manage these risks accordingly. At the same time, operations in the yard must continue.

As human errors occur - every human movement in a container yard is a potential incident, automating services is not only a reasonable approach to maximize safety, but guarantees continuous crane operation.

Refrigerated containers are shipping containers used in intermodal freight transportation to move temperature-sensitive cargo, can control temperature and atmosphere, relies on external power, and is handled by an internal controller.

As refrigerated containers are a vital part of the global supply chain, you don't want to break the cool chain at any point in the supply chain. However, reefer cargo is temperature-sensitive and spoiling it comes with high costs.

Reefer operations in a container terminal are labour-intensive and need constant monitoring and management. An automated reefer monitoring and management solution gives you total control of your terminal reefer operations.

As the pressure in the global supply chain increases and container terminals are the vital gateways for the global economies, terminal productivity becomes focused on providing reliability and stability to the supply chain and improving their output considerably. As a result, productivity is in focus once more and more than ever.

With insurance claim costs, accidents, and terminal slowdowns, your reefer productivity will suffer but also trust and future business can linger for years. Automatic reefer monitoring and management is a proven solution protecting your and your customer's assets.

Factors like space, energy, workforce, processes, spoiled cargo, and container handling equipment- will directly influence your reefer productivity.

Regarding refrigerated containers, automation offers higher productivity in several aspects: Insurance claims, human errors, personnel safety and terminal equipment.

In order to be able to implement effective saving measures, it is inevitable to know exactly which areas and units in the container terminal use which amounts of electricity and at what times.

The blog post shows what to look out for when choosing a monitoring solution.

Reefer Logistics, also known as the cold chain, has become an essential part of carriers' strategies to connect producers and consumers within one chain. The aim is to give customers shorter overall lead times and more predictable costs to calculate. In addition, there is the promise to store and transport perishable goods at the right and consistent temperature throughout the complete end-to-end supply chain.

A refrigerated container typically circles the world four times each year under extreme handling and weather conditions. Over a typical lifecycle of 15 years, a reefer sees many vessels, ports and others means of logistics. Handling and maintaining reefers is an uphill task. Therefore, there is massive potential to reduce inefficiencies and costs in reefer operations.

IDENTEC SOLUTIONS’ Reefer Runner, the world’s most advanced terminal-based reefer monitoring solution, went operational in December 2021 at Puerto Bolivar / Ecuador as part of Yilport’s initiative to boost productivity at their terminals worldwide.

While the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the implementation of the system, the project team kept their cool and executed according to plan: "With our flexible system and a global team that will go the extra mile while being extremely accommodating to our customers' timeline and needs." Despite this extraordinary challenge, the go-live was completed on December 27th, 2021.”

Big milestone for IDENTEC SOLUTIONS: Reefer Runner being installed / deployed at 50 container terminals is a major sign of success. Reefer Runner revolutionised the way refrigerated container management works today.

Fifty container terminals trust Reefer Runner because it works. Years ago, IDENTEC SOLUTIONS revolutionised how reefer monitoring was managed and developed a solution independent of reefer types, delivering data remotely, enabling energy monitoring without an additional power meter, and realising the first decarbonisation project (together with Siemens). But, most importantly, Reefer Runner is a solution that manages the entire process of reefer handling in ports, not just delivering data.

IDENTEC SOLUTIONS has secured a contract with Cornelder Container Terminal in Port of Beira, Mozambique, enhancing their refrigerated container handling and efficiency, with the implementation of 300 reefer plugs going live Q4 2023.