Emerson Cold Chain Solutions, which provides cold chain temperature and location monitoring, is helping Mississauga Food Bank in Ontario, Canada, deliver fresh food for people in need through its recent donation of GO Facility wireless temperature monitoring systems for the main distribution facility and five member food banks.
Mississauga, a member of the Feed Ontario Association of food banks, provides food for more than 217,000 meals each month through a network of 50 agencies whose goal is to make sure no one in the area goes hungry.
The Mississauga Food Bank is comprised of a main distribution facility and network of eight partner food banks. Of the 2.5 million pounds of food they distribute annually, perishables represent nearly half of their inventory. According to Jon Davey, warehouse manager at the main hub, keeping those perishables fresh, cool and frozen is imperative.
“Almost 50% of our total food distributions are perishable, so we rely on our refrigerated coolers and freezers to maintain proper temperatures,” Davey said.
Davey said cold chain management activities historically were performed by employees, who logged temperatures by hand twice a day at the main hub. This process was time-consuming, unreliable and didn’t provide the desired visibility. As a result, when food was distributed from the main facility to member agencies, Davey’s team had no way of knowing if the refrigeration systems where the food was kept were in good working order.
“Cold chain management is difficult when you don’t have access to data,” Davey said. “Not only were we uncertain of what was going on in our coolers and freezers, we also couldn’t see the status of our neighboring facilities.”
To mitigate this risk and enable proper cold chain management, executive management within the organization recognized the need for a refrigeration and facility monitoring system. The leadership team reached out to Emerson in Canada to discuss potential solutions, and quickly found the company was more than willing to help.
After consulting with Mississauga, Emerson supplied the GO Facility system, which provides visibility into the network of supporting banks via:
- Facility control software portal (for the main facility)
- Cellular gateway (for each location)
- Sensors (for each cooler and freezer system)
The system is designed to notify Davey when any of the refrigeration systems fall outside of the predetermined setpoint ranges and allow the warehouse manager to check the status of all refrigeration systems in the network. This visibility allows him to review and validate operating conditions of all walk-in freezers and coolers before sending out product.
“The first thing I do when I come in every morning is check for any temperature variances in our refrigeration systems,” Davey said. “And if I have a delivery to one of those locations, I know that they’re ready to receive a shipment.”
Since the GO Facility wireless monitoring system was installed, the Mississauga Food Bank has not experienced any major refrigeration system outages.
“There is a tremendous peace of mind that comes with knowing that if something does happen, we’re prepared for it and can spring into action to save our inventory,” Davey said.
Their new temperature monitoring capabilities also lay the foundation for future growth. The Mississauga Food Bank has near-term plans of launching a food rescue program with 58 partnering grocery stores.
“Thanks to Emerson, we can move forward with the tools in place to protect our perishable foods and fulfill our mission,” Davey said.
Visit climate.emerson.com/en-us/products/controls-monitoring-systems for more information.