Toppan develops temperature logger label for cost-effective long-distance food transportation

17 May 2022 --- Toppan is unveiling a thin, card-sized temperature logger label that enables food temperature to be measured and recorded at regular intervals and data to be sent to a database via wireless networks. 

In contrast to general logistics, long-distance transportation of food requires strict temperature management. Fresh products such as meat, fish, and vegetables as well as chilled items like dairy products and prepared foods need to be transported at specific temperatures set for each product to maintain freshness and prevent quality deterioration.

When attached to freight, Toppan’s temperature logger label automatically records the surface temperature at an interval set by the shipper. 

Tracing data
Two frequency bands are available: UHF, which facilitates communication over relatively long distances of about five meters, and NFC, which is becoming increasingly incorporated into smartphones. 

Toppan will provide a dedicated app for data reading (left) and a cloud-based management system (right).Log data (record of date, time and temperature) from shipment to final destination or a given point on the route, which is read using a dedicated app, and traceability data from the reading location, are sent to a cloud-based management system to facilitate chronological tracking and management of temperature changes during transportation.

Established in Tokyo, Japan, in 1900, Toppan is a leading and diversified global provider of integrated solutions in fields including printing, communications, security, packaging, décor materials, electronics, and digital transformation.

Temperature loggers
The communication, security, packaging, décor materials, and electronics solutions company explains its temperature logger label is equipped with a single-use battery and adopts a simple structure without a terminal for data downloading or a display.

Therefore, Toppan says it plans to supply it at less than one-tenth of the cost of existing temperature logger devices.

The label was used as a tool to measure and record the surface temperature of container boxes during a pilot test conducted between October 2021 and March 2022, which involved transporting Japanese sake from major breweries in Japan to cold storage facilities in China. Sales of the temperature logger labels are scheduled to start in June this year.

Increased demand 
Temperature logger devices that measure and record temperature at fixed intervals are widely available as tools to manage temperature during transportation. Prices ranging from tens to hundreds of US dollars per unit, however, means that attaching them to every container is costly, and the workload for recovery after use also presents an obstacle to adoption. 

The high costs have led to increased demand for low cost temperature loggers suitable for one-way use that do not need to be recovered in scenarios requiring temperature management over long-distances, such as international shipping.

Concept for use of Toppan’s temperature logger labels in a pilot test conducted by Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.Logger label features 

• Simple structure and functions allow for a price that is less than one tenth of existing products.
• Measurement interval between one second and 60 minutes and timer function for start of measurement.
• Information recorded more than 38,000 times when measuring “temperature range.”
• Dedicated app for data reading and cloud-based system for managing temperature records.

Pilot testing
Toppan’s temperature logger label was used by the Japanese Sake Cold Chain Consortium in a pilot test on food exports and the restructuring of the overseas food value chain, which was conducted by the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries from October 2021 to March 2022. 

Labels were attached to products from six major Japanese sake breweries, which were transported via truck from various regions of Japan to ports in Yokohama and Osaka, before being shipped to ports in Shanghai, Ningbo, and Shenzhen in China, and then delivered to logistics bases in each city. The temperature of the sake was maintained at 5°C or lower and measured at 30-minute intervals.

Toppan explains that the recorded data was read at warehouses and logistics bases and sent to the cloud-based management system. Staff from the sake breweries and distributors were able to browse the histories on PCs and smartphones to confirm that the sake had been transported from Japan to China under appropriate storage conditions.

Edited

By Natalie Schwertheim