The Internet of Things technology has been growing rapidly and has already bypassed conventional systems in terms of features and functionalities. Its applications in the field of remote monitoring and advanced analytics are revolutionizing businesses and are offering exemplary benefits to them.
One such application of IoT is temperature monitoring. A temperature monitoring solution is immensely beneficial to industries where temperature plays a crucial role in defining the quality of the products. Moreover, in a cold chain, a temperature monitoring solution allow a logistic manager to monitor the temperature of the item being transported in real-time.
In this solution, thermostats and sensors continuously measure the temperature of a closed system and share it with a centralized platform over a network. By using this platform, an individual can remotely monitor the temperature of the system and make sure that the cargo is being shipped within a temp-controlled environment.
The implementation of this solution is really helpful for goods that are climate-sensitive. It is convenient to use and help in confirming the quality of the products during warehousing and shipping processes. Here is a list of top 5 use cases of this solution:
1) Digital temperature monitoring in laboratories:
Temperature plays a crucial role in defining the chemical composition or integrity of volatile compounds and biological samples respectively. They can render useless and affect experimental conclusions or even worse, the patient's health, if not kept under a strict temperature range. It is, therefore, vital for laboratories and test clinics to maintain a controlled environment for successful testing on these samples.
With IoT’s temperature monitoring solution, a laboratory can conduct tests and store samples in a controlled environment, to determine accurate results.
2) Food Safety Compliances:
Developing and maintaining a consistent batch of food items that stands true according to the standards set by food regulatory authorities is important for the food and beverage industry. However, for fast food firms with the franchise in different corners of the world, maintaining these quality and safety standards can be a major challenge.
The food industry hence uses heater/freezer fitted chambers to develop a controllable environment for their goods. IoT temperature monitoring solution allows the food industry to monitor the temperature of these chambers allowing them to ensure that the regulatory compliances are met. They can remotely monitor the temperature of the items and confirm the quality of their products.
3) Warehouse and Inventory Management:
Some products can be sensitive to humidity & temperature. Storing them in a normal warehouse can result in their corrosion and are thus required to be stored in a temperature-controlled environment. By using heaters/freezers, the temperature and humidity of the warehouses can be maintained to ensure the quality of a specific type of product. By using IoT based temperature monitoring solution, a warehousing and inventory manager can track and remotely change the temperature of the warehouse. This reduces inspection costs and helps companies to ensure the quality of their products.
4) Goods in Transit:
Connecting manufacturers, distributors, and consumers are one of the many crucial applications of a supply chain. During the distribution phase, the quality of the products being shipped is affected adversely due to changing environmental conditions.
Hence, companies develop special containers to maintain a suitable environment for their products while they are shipped from one location to another. Using temperature monitoring sensors allows companies to track environmental parameters of a trailer en-route even from a remote location. This IoT solution along with advanced telemetry establish transparency in a cold supply chain and allow companies to maintain the quality of their products.
5) Equipment Monitoring:
Manufacturing based companies depend a lot on the quality and efficiency of their machines. Sudden equipment breakdown can result in bottlenecks that further affects the performance of the whole plant.
As rise in temperature is one of the implications of the machines’ wear and tear, temperature monitoring sensors can be used to detect issues affecting the performance of the machines. This helps the companies to reduce equipment downtime and conduct effective condition-based maintenance (CBM) on them whenever they undergo an unexpected malfunction or breakdown.
Benefits of IoT temperature monitoring:
The applications of temperature monitoring systems are quite versatile. They offer exemplary benefits in terms of keeping the environmental conditions stable and controlled as per specific requirements. Below are the top 5 benefits that this solution offers:
A. Save time with instant notifications and alerts:
An IoT system offers instant notifications in real-time. Hence, a temperature monitoring system allows a company to track the environmental parameters on a secure web/mobile-based platform. This eliminates redundant tasks like taking manual readings, thus saving time and elevating quick decision making.
B. Productivity improvement with advanced analytics:
The data gathered from the temperature sensors can be used to create statistical insights. These insights will include the time duration during which products deteriorate and details associated with the temperature readings. This will help the companies to improve the reliability of their warehouse and cold storage.
C. Maintaining regulatory compliance:
Companies must maintain the quality of their products in the entire cycle of the supply chain. The products should meet the safety and quality standards set by the authoritative regulatory bodies. Temperature monitoring allows companies to protect their products from the adverse effects of changing weather and thus meet regulatory compliance.
D. Accessibility from remote locations:
As IoT encompasses advanced telemetry capabilities, remote temperature monitoring from distant locations is also. The data gathered through temperature monitoring sensors can be accessed from faraway places on a web application or a mobile app.
E. Creating transparency in the supply chain:
With advanced telematics capabilities, a temperature monitoring system can transfer the data to multiple profiles simultaneously in real-time. This increases the visibility between the supplier and carrier, enabling them to monitor the parameters through remote locations. For businesses requiring such systems, partnering with a reliable Web design UK service can help create efficient online platforms for seamless integration and monitoring.
CONCLUSION:
The use of temperature monitoring sensors has enabled the monitoring of change in temperature affecting the quality of the products. Their implementation in different sectors has empowered the logistics and warehousing operations of a company. The solution these sensors offers along with IoT allows companies to monitor the temperature of their products in a cold chain. This is enabling companies to ensure the quality of their products while they are in transit.
