Fulfillment of perishable products creates a set of challenges and priorities that are different from standard ecommerce shipping. Failing to recognize or plan for these contributes to product failure and waste. Logistics organizations that implement automation can achieve critical gains in product safety and quality, as well as management of the cold chain.
Challenges to Perishable Parcel Fulfillment
Unlike shipping a standard parcel, perishable products have tight delivery windows that logistics companies cannot push back. A delivery window of two or three days may be critical to ensuring that the product does not spoil, drop in quality, or risk contaminating other parcels.
Additionally, fulfillment of temperature-sensitive products requires careful management of the entire transportation chain. The organization shipping the product must confirm that it meets strict guidelines from the moment it leaves the warehouse until it reaches the destination. Lack of information about the product in transit does not overcome this responsibility.
Insufficient monitoring and preservation ultimately lead to a higher risk of spoilage. Spoiled products can contaminate the container, spread foodborne illness, or lose efficacy entirely. They also contribute to higher expenses and lost revenue in the effort to mitigate the damage. In some cases, organizations that cause these issues could face liability for the lapse.
Automation Technologies Critical to Fulfillment
To address these issues, logistics organizations can utilize automation technologies to streamline fulfillment. For example, the Internet of Things devices with sensors provide critical information about the products’ condition during transit. These devices can record data and report it to a central hub at a regular interval. That way, the fulfillment manager can review temperatures and other conditions for consistent quality.
With these IoT devices and sensors, real-time monitoring streamlines management of the cold chain. Managers no longer need to have drivers and loading staff test systems, outside of routine testing and maintenance. The automated system tracks data used to establish a consistent record of proper temperatures, humidity, and more.
When minutes matter for preservation of the cold chain, conveyors and other devices offer quick loading and unloading. Telescopic conveyors can rapidly adjust to the length of the space between the products and the vehicle. This advantage minimizes the time that loading and unloading staff spend carrying items, getting the vehicle on its way faster.
Advantages of Automation in Parcel Fulfillment
Automation can improve the speed of every step in the fulfillment chain. Minimizing minutes spent loading and unloading reduces the time that products sit in suboptimal conditions. This effort puts the products in the hands of the recipient in less time, so they can use, dispense, or sell it more quickly.
Additionally, automation technologies increase accuracy in monitoring and record-keeping. Logistics companies must be able to prove that they are providing appropriate conditions for the products in transit, with data to back it up. Automation offers key data that can assist in record-keeping, with a higher degree of accuracy than human measurements.
The use of automation helps to maintain visibility of the total inventory, which can improve quality and reduce waste. Manufacturers and distributors of perishable products must maintain an updated and accurate inventory, to avoid selling more than they have or allowing existing inventory to spoil. Automating each step of fulfillment preserves that visibility from picking to delivery.
Automation also provides streamlined tools to manage the cold chain. Collecting, processing, and organizing data is an onerous task that can take hours of an employee’s day. By comparison, an automated system handles these tasks in minutes by default, so that fewer people are needed to provide the same level of management. Customers and regulators get critical transparency about the condition of each shipment, while dramatically decreasing the logistics organization’s workload.
Since perishable fulfillment is an operational requirement for many organizations, those looking to minimize operational disruptions can use automation to ensure seamless function. Instead of having drivers stop at regular intervals to check temperatures or other conditions, they can continue onto the destination without disturbing the products or putting them at risk. Every step runs more smoothly, leading to an unbroken chain that improves long-term outcomes.
When compared to standard e-commerce shipments, perishable parcel fulfillment requires different conditions to maintain minimum levels of safety and quality. Organizations can reduce the workload by integrating automation into their fulfillment systems, from loading and unloading to transportation.
Chris Thompson is Senior Marketing Communications Manager, Material Handling Americas, at FMH Conveyors. With a deep understanding that industrial automation is the future of manufacturing, Thompson aims to present those possibilities to end users and distributors in a fun and informative way. Thompson combines a love for marketing and eye-catching graphic design with a passion for automated processes and machinery.
