Problem :
ProTAACS was contacted by the manager of
a US based convenience store chain. He had came across our products and
believed they could solve a problem they were having with temperatures
in their produce coolers. Their produce waste numbers were increasing,
and they wanted to get a better understanding of why. The only way for
them to know when a cooler was malfunctioning was by employees stocking
the coolers to notice if there was an issue. The company wanted to
implement a reliable temperature monitoring system, that would alert
store managers if temperatures in there coolers were fluctuating to far
out of range.
They realized that their process of
manually tracking temperatures was not enough to protect them against
the possibility of inventory loss. They needed a solution to human error
and fast changing temperatures
Solution :
We provides a reliable remote monitoring
solution that includes wireless temperature sensors as well as a
variety of other useful sensors. The company deployed standard wireless
temperature sensors as well as probed wireless temperature sensors.
The temperature sensor housings were
attached under the display edge of the coolers, making them
inconspicuous, with temperature probes running to harder to reach areas.
The sensor data is sent wirelessly to a ProTAACS gateway 400 feet away
using one range extender mounted in the ceiling area half-way between
the two locations. The gateway sends the information to ProTAACS, the
online sensor monitoring system. The sensors were set to check and
record temperatures every 15 minutes.Notifications were setup to alert the manager if a temperature was above their set limit, allowing him to respond appropriately
Sensor Used :
| Wireless sensor used: | How it was used: |
| Temperature sensors | To monitor and track temperatures inside a produce cooler. Helping determine best placement of different produce, as well as alert if a coolers compressor may be going bad |
| Temperature sensors with probes | To monitor and track temperatures of harder to reach areas within a produce cooler |
The Result :
For an initial investment of ~$1000, the
customer deployed a comprehensive temperature monitoring solution in
one of it’s stores. ProTAACS recommended that this customer place
wireless temperature sensors at various locations within the coolers to
monitor the temperature as well as find out if there were variances
between different locations in the coolers. They placed wireless sensors
in a produce cooler and found that there were warmer spots. Being able
to determine the location of warmer and colder spots in the cooler, they
rearranged the location of different types of produce based on their
storage temperature recommendations. The trial allowed them to determine
temperature fluctuations in their produce cooler minimizing spoilage
and waste.
In the first three months of using the
system, it alerted the manager of rising temperatures caused by a faulty
compressor. The inventory was moved and the issue resolved before any
spoilage occurred. The trial was successful which resulted in the store
deploying additional sensors in its other food coolers and the company
implementing the temperature monitoring solution in other stores.
Using ProTAACS’s comprehensive monitoring solution, this customer is now able to:
- Avoid potential product spoilage by using sensors in their produce and food coolers.
- Tell if food cooler doors are not closed properly, preventing temperature fluctuations.
- Minimize costs associated with spoiled inventory and waste removal.
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