Simplifying cold store logistics processes is becoming increasingly easier, thanks to ever-improving technology.By leveraging state-of-the-art information technology (IT) tools, solutions can nowadays be developed to streamline shipping and order fulfilment to meet sellers’ needs.According to Scott McKenzie, marketing manager of Mercurius IT, cold chain logistics has several challenges in the face of increasing requirements around product safety, not to mention the pressure to register all processes accurately.Speaking during a recent online event, McKenzie said the demand on logistics service providers was to get more work done in less time, without compromising product safety or the cold chain. This was no easy undertaking considering that volumes were on the rise. “Meeting the changing requirements of customers nowadays means being able to streamline processes effortlessly,” he said. “One of the biggest challenges for cold chain logistics is change. The needs and demands of customers are changing and logistics must keep up.”He said one such change was the constant demand for information from customers. “They want to know the status of goods at each stage of the journey. Meeting these changes and needs requires some dynamic changes to business processes.”According to McKenzie, in order to meet these demands, many organisations have been customising warehouse management systems using a traditional approach, but this consumes lots of time and money, considering the delays frequently caused to business operations due to complications with the system.“At the same time, it has also become a challenge for many logistics service providers to keep up to date with technology, while keeping costs in check and focusing on efficiency.”McKenzie said software solutions incorporated into any cold chain logistics system must be capable enough to adapt to future changes in business operations instead of having to endlessly customise the software.His advice is to opt for software that is user-friendly and easily configurable – for example, software that allows one to record product data effortlessly, from expiry dates to batch numbers and temperature management.“The software must also be able to track goods from start to finish, save time by integrating communication with customers via EDI [electronic data interchange] and allow for real insight into data.”
