Cold-chain packages temperature tracking
Single load units temperature monitoring and real-time position tracking in temperature-sensitive goods transportation
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Monitoring of internal temperature and position of insulated containers at every stage of transport
The client had the need to monitor the position and interior temperature of thousands of isothermal containers for pharmaceuticals and food throughout the shipment.
The required solution was to allow the client to give the final customer guarantees on the condition of the goods during all stages of transport in an economically effective and sustainable way. It has been suggested to abandon the usual method of logging data on devices that are only downloaded after the journey is complete.
The system was obligated to put backup systems and architectures in place at every stage of the data flow to secure high service availability.
IoT solution for refrigerated logistics with continuous temperature and location tracking
The management of the cold chain applied to pharmaceutical and food logistics is difficult owing to the multiple criteria and requirements to be satisfied in terms of safety and quality standards that must be ensured to avoid the loss of primary goods.
The solution created is focused on the monitoring of the isothermal containers during the whole transport cycle, from picking up to the transition between branches where the isothermal box stands within refrigerated containers to delivery at the final destination.
The solution, in particular, requires that each isothermal container be equipped with a sensor certified to UNI EN 12830:2001 for high-precision temperature monitoring as well as a long-lasting internal battery.
Sensors, which are low-cost, low-power, and highly reliable, collect information about the location of each container and its internal temperature at all times throughout transport.
The collected data is delivered in real time to the IoT cloud platform Ubiquicom Locator, which manages and analyses the entire flow of information, stores it, and sends alarms in the event of anomalies.
The following data is gathered and processed:
- Temperature History
- Historical positions of every container
- Alerts for temperature changes (exiting the fixed range)
- Parking alarms for extended periods of time.
Smart devices mounted on board vehicles, in hubs, in exchange zones, and in refrigerated cells receive and transmit data from sensors to software.
To ensure the continuity of the data acquired, the entire architecture of the solution has been created with several levels of temporary data storage, allowing them to be preserved in the event of a disconnection and delivered afterward to the platform when the connection is restored.
The Ubiquicom Locator platform takes in data from multiple sources to accurately reconstruct the thermal curve that each load has been exposed to, regardless of its location, effortlessly and with great precision.
Additionally, real-time alarms for out-of-threshold values are managed based on configured tolerances and limits. Each piece of data obtained is linked to information on the refrigeration unit in which the container is housed (truck, refrigerator cell, isothermal rack, etc.) and the relative position.
The calculation of location is done with GNSS technology in outdoor areas for the accurate locating and monitoring of assets and a BLE location system or cell base for indoor areas.
Cold chain guaranteed with real-time IoT monitoring, proactive anomaly management and advanced data analysis
The customer was able to gain the following benefits as a result of the implemented solution:
- The certification to the end customer that the cold chain has not been disrupted;
- Accurate monitoring of the location and temperature of each individual container;
- The ability to manage any criticisms and anomalies in real-time and avoid the decay of goods;
- The generation of reports and statistics of all telemetry data and events related to each container;
- Data analysis tools for continuous service improvement.
Questions and insights
Cold chain logistics for food and pharmaceutical products requires maintaining strict temperature ranges throughout the entire storage and transportation process. A single temperature excursion — even brief — can compromise product integrity, trigger regulatory non-compliance, result in product recall, and create liability exposure.
Traditional monitoring approaches relying on periodic manual readings or data loggers reviewed only at delivery create gaps in visibility: temperature excursions may not be detected until product has already been damaged, or until a logger is downloaded hours after an event occurred.
Real-time temperature monitoring addresses this by providing continuous, automated tracking that detects and alerts on excursions the instant they occur, enabling immediate corrective action before product is irreversibly compromised.
Ubiquicom deployed its TrackVision platform extended with temperature-sensing RTLS tags capable of simultaneously recording both the real-time geographic position and the ambient temperature of tracked assets and storage areas.
Wireless temperature sensors and smart tags were placed on pallets, storage locations, refrigerated containers, and at critical points in the cold storage infrastructure.
The TrackVision software platform aggregated this data into a centralized dashboard providing a combined view of where temperature-sensitive products were located and what temperature they were experiencing at every moment.
Automated alert rules were configured to notify supervisors immediately when temperature readings exceeded defined thresholds for any monitored asset or zone, enabling immediate intervention.
Ubiquicom's cold chain temperature monitoring solution is applicable across all industries where temperature control is a regulatory or quality requirement.
Primary markets include food and beverage producers and distributors that must maintain specific temperature ranges under food safety legislation such as HACCP.
Pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors managing temperature-sensitive medicines, vaccines, and biologics that must comply with GDP (Good Distribution Practice) and GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) regulations.
Biotechnology companies handling research samples and reagents that degrade outside narrow temperature windows.
Cold chain 3PL providers that operate temperature-controlled warehouses and transportation for multiple product categories must also demonstrate continuous chain-of-custody and temperature compliance to their customers.
The combination of real-time location and temperature data creates a significantly more powerful cold chain management capability than temperature monitoring alone. When a temperature excursion alert is triggered, supervisors can see instantly on the TrackVision map exactly which pallet or storage position is affected, its precise current location in the facility, and whether it has been moved recently. This spatial context enables a targeted response — going directly to the affected asset rather than searching the warehouse.
It also enables automatic investigation of temperature excursions: if a pallet exited a cold room and returned, the location history will show this movement, distinguishing between a failed refrigeration unit and a process compliance failure. The combined dataset also supports end-to-end chain-of-custody documentation for regulatory submissions and customer audits.
Ubiquicom's temperature monitoring platform provides a continuously maintained, timestamped audit trail that directly supports compliance with key cold chain regulations.
For food safety, the system generates the documented evidence required by HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points) plans, demonstrating that critical temperature control points were monitored continuously and that corrective actions were taken when thresholds were breached.
For pharmaceutical distribution, the system supports GDP and GMP compliance documentation, providing the complete temperature history required for product qualification and regulatory submissions.
The platform stores all sensor data for configurable retention periods and produces compliance-ready reports that can be shared with regulatory authorities, customers, and auditors on demand.
The Ubiquicom TrackVision platform manages temperature alerts through a configurable multi-level notification system. When a sensor reading exceeds a defined threshold, the system immediately generates an alert event with a timestamp, the identity and location of the affected asset or zone, the recorded temperature, and the magnitude of the excursion. Alerts are delivered to designated recipients via the management console, email, or SMS notifications depending on configuration. Escalation rules can be set so that unacknowledged alerts are automatically escalated to a supervisor after a defined time period.
All alert events, acknowledgments, and corrective actions taken are logged to the system record, creating a complete incident management history that demonstrates due diligence in the event of a regulatory inquiry.
Traditional temperature data loggers are passive recording devices that store temperature readings internally and can only be reviewed when physically collected and downloaded at the end of a journey or storage period. This approach has two critical limitations: it provides no ability to intervene during an excursion because the data is not visible in real time, and it cannot provide the combined location and temperature context needed for root cause analysis.
Ubiquicom's connected temperature tags transmit readings wirelessly and in real time to the central platform, enabling immediate alert-triggered intervention while excursions are still occurring. The addition of RTLS-based location data means supervisors know exactly where an at-risk asset is the moment they receive an alert, rather than having to search for it. This combination makes Ubiquicom's approach substantially more valuable for both preventing losses and demonstrating continuous compliance.