EDISON, N.J. -- Deep in the heart of a seemingly never-ending maze of 330,000 square feet of warehouse space here at the A&P Edison Retail Support Center, Lawrence Rossi aims a gun.
It's not a life-threatening weapon, though.
It's a freshness-saving weapon that Rossi, perishable warehouse manager, wields.
The gun is a Raytak Infrared digital thermometer. Rossi combs the aisles looking for meat, eggs, produce, fish and anything else that needs to maintain a temperature at or just below freezing to stay fresh.
He aptly demonstrates the technique on some Portobello mushrooms. Basically, it's just point and shoot. The gun emits a laser beam that pierces anything in its path to record the internal temperature of a perishable product.
It's just one of many new technological tools the managers of perishable warehouses are using these days to increase the shelf life of food in the cold chain.
Other high-tech advances A&P uses include:
A microprocessor, computer-controlled refrigeration system that maintains a 28-degree temperature in the 75,000-square-foot meat warehouse, but saves energy because it only needs to run 12 hours a day.
Computerized recorders installed in refrigerated tractor-trailers that record the temperature of a perishable load every second. The recorders are downloaded and a printout is read before a truck is off-loaded to ensure that the freight was properly refrigerated.
A&P officials said that, like other supermarket operators, they are constantly looking to upgrade their technology to maintain the freshness and shelf life of all the products in the cold supply chain.
Software and inventory control systems are also being used to aid operators in boosting their on-time delivery schedule and increase accuracy while reducing mis-picks and out-of-stocks.
At the root of these systems is the positioning of a license plate on pallets, crates, containers or boxes when received, one industry expert said.
"Retailers need to know where product is and how long it has been there. They need to direct goods to a specific place," said M. Geoffrey Sisko, vice president, Gross & Associates, Woodbridge, N.J. Sisko's company is a material handling logistics firm.
"The watch word is 'first in, first out.' Establish guidelines to report by for each class of goods. What works for lettuce does not work for frozen chicken. Set time limits and temperature guidelines for the entire logistics chain," Sisko said.
The A&P warehouse here, for example, is a 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week operation, employing 265 people. It is one of five warehouses it maintains on the East Coast, and it services 86 stores in New York and New Jersey.
A&P officials said meat inventory is turned over every three to five days, while produce has a turn of about one and a half days.
Sisko said that effective management of perishable warehouses is achieved by defining the class of goods, determining the parameters to control and putting in place a system to manage it.
"A key element is visibility into inventory across the supply chain," said Nyle Morris, general manager multichannel retail, EXE Technologies, Dallas. EXE is a provider of multichannel distribution software, specializing in e-fulfillment systems and warehouse management systems.
"From the corporate level to within the four walls of the warehouse, those with visibility can redirect product to take advantage of sales situations, maximize shelf life of products and ship out items with the oldest code dates," Morris added.
The ability to look into the cold supply chain also helps operators capture in-bound information, like production dates and expiration dates, into handheld scanners or electronic data interface systems and communicate that back to managers.
Such knowledge puts managers in the driver's seat when it comes to driving business. If necessary, in-bound loads can be redirected to other facilities, and sales events can be better executed with visibility into the inventory.
"Category management may be a link between what happens to perishable products within the distribution channel and optimizing sales," says Bob Bova, BB & Associates, Fayetteville, Ark. "Category management can assist in minimizing inventory and maximizing turns."
Bova is a perishable management consultant.
Handheld devices are also assisting retailers in reaching out to growers in the fields and communicate with international suppliers. With information on crop conditions and shipping times, operators are in a better position to make strategic decisions aimed at increasing sales.
To track time and temperature, reporters and monitors are available -- ranging from simple tags that change color if abuse has occurred to highly technological systems using sensors and radio frequency.
Other sensors have been developed to track the shipping abuse of impact-sensitive or position-sensitive products.
On the produce side, combining incompatible products can be damaging to entire loads of delicate fruits and vegetables. Some perishable products are optimally stored and transported at various humidity levels and some have a varied degree of gas sensitivity.
Perishable warehouse managers are looking at humidity control and ethylene gas removal systems to ease the burden. Some are eyeing zone controls to allow for different areas to be maintained at different levels, according to Cherri Spearman, vice president, KES Science & Technology, Kennesaw, Ga.
KES provides systems to the perishable industry to add humidity and control ethylene and airborne pathogens to the post-harvest and floral industry.
Produce commodity groups have also taken a hard look at time and temperature controls for their specific items in an effort to assist retailers.
Last season, California Tree Fruit Agreement, Reedley, Calif., promoted its ripening protocol. This protocol demonstrated to retailers that, if the distribution system for stone fruit kept the items at 50 to 77 degrees, fruit would ripen better and ultimately taste better.
"Using the ripening protocol, retailers did experience sales increases ranging between 40% to 50% the first season the handling practices were used," said Dave Parker, director. "The subsequent year, retailers still report sales increases in the 10% to 20% range."
Moreover, this season, CTFA is showing that backing up handling methods to the packer's shed is a good idea.
A pre-conditioning process has been introduced where picked fruit is brought down to 68 degrees for two days. This produces a value-added product two days riper than untreated fruit. Once at the retailer, it is recommended that the fruit be kept in a cold area to inhibit softening.
Other operators are turning to cross docking. This system entails taking merchandise off an inbound truck and immediately directing it to the dock of an outbound truck.
To increase the time produce can remain in the stores, operators have to reduce the amount of time it is in the warehouse. Cross docking effectively trims time out of the logistics system. By using cross docking, the square footage of the distribution center can be reduced.
