SUPERVALU USING TEMPERATURE MONITORING

CHRIS O'LEARY

MINNEAPOLIS -- Supervalu here is reducing the risk of perishable shipment spoilage by using new computer-based monitoring systems to detect truck temperature variations.

Use of the monitoring systems also provides the wholesaler with a more precise method of tracking driver performance and shipment arrival times, said Ted Campbell, corporate director of produce.

"We can monitor when the driver made his pickups, if he was held up at a loading point, how many times the doors were open on the trucks," he said. "Everything shows up in the most minute detail."

The wholesaler is pushing for all its produce suppliers to equip their trucks with the new systems, which record information on a computer chip that is transferred to diskette upon arrival at Supervalu's distribution centers. The information is then downloaded into the wholesaler's data base and examined.

"Every [produce] shipper doesn't yet supply it but we're working on that," Campbell said. The new system represents a vast improvement over traditional temperature monitors, which often provide only general information on temperature variations and require time-consuming examination to extract meaningful information.

By contrast, the new system provides an extremely accurate record of when any temperature change occurred, and the system automatically brings up any temperature disparities.

"We are finding out what's happening to that truck every time the door opens and what temperatures are occurring in that load," he said. "You only read out the data that you actually need and all the rest is easily stored and retrievable."

Having information that a truck temperature rose above an accepted limit for a certain portion of a shipment gives Supervalu evidence to determine which party -- truck carrier or produce supplier -- is responsible if the product arrives spoiled at their docks.

"If we notice a load that's gotten to a temperature that's above our specifications, we would make a notation on the driver's bill of lading upon arrival," he said. "That way there is some protection down the road for us."

Even if the wholesaler determines the load has arrived in otherwise good condition, they will "still note there is a temperature disparity, in case we have a very rapid deterioration or loss of shelf life [at the retail store] which may not be perceivable on arrival," Campbell said.

Supervalu is also using the monitors to determine if any supplier distribution centers are inefficient and causing delays in the supply chain.

"We can determine how long [a driver] may have waited at a particular loading point," Campbell said. "You can then go back to a supplier and say 'We're getting trucks delayed at this certain point and it's becoming a trend.' "

The wholesaler is now expanding the use of the monitors, provided by Sensitech, Beverly, Mass., to its own outbound produce shipments to retail stores and even in cases and coolers at the store level.

In the future, Supervalu would like the monitor system to be able to detect the presence of humidity and other factors that create product spoilage, he said.

For example, the ability to detect ethylene, a natural gas produced by fruits that causes advanced ripening and deterioration of some perishables, will be crucial in mixed truckloads of perishables, Campbell said.