Developing countries and island areas are particularly impacted by this,
as the high costs of constructing cold storage warehouses deter them from ever being created.
Because cold storage warehouses are not available,
not only are food products eaten by consumers unable to be stored,
but agricultural and marine produce from such islands are unable to be transported and commercialized.
Cold Storage Japan has developed the next generation platform of cold chain in the form of the IOT Refrigeration Container (IO CUBE)
which creates medium-scale storage points where needed.
Additionally, through the sales of freshness preserving devices and last-mile transport boxes,
Cold Storage Japan offers solutions to every aspect of the cold chain.
By implementing RFID technology and connecting to a WMS (warehouse management system), it is now possible to manage all owned containers and control their inventories at the same time.
The installation of the IO CUBE at production areas also allow producers to sell directly to the consumer. This drastically shortens the lead time involved in distribution and helps offer better quality products. Shipping of products to areas previously without a distribution network is made possible and this aids in resolving inter-regional discrepancies.
Remote monitoring and control of conditions inside the containers is enabled through linking with all the different sensors (temperature, humidity, air concentration).
Through these control functions, it is now possible to ripen products and increase its added-value, as is commonly done within plant factories and warehouses. The security management of goods can be further reinforced by installing cameras and GPS.
We have made it possible to effectively install freshness preservation devices at low costs through the use of containers. Preserving the freshness of products lead to longer product life, which in turn reduces loss through food waste.
It is also possible to after-ripen and defrost products within the containers by using the installed freshness preservation devices, and this keeps the quality of the products much higher for a longer period of time.