Improving food safety along the supply chain could help bring healthcare spending on foodborne illnesses under control.

Below are a few statistics that highlight the need to improve food safety and meet customer standards.

• 70 percent of consumers say that the way food is manufactured, prepared, and handled is of high importance to them.
• 69 percent of decision makers say that the industry is prepared to manage food traceability and transparency but only 35 percent of consumers agree.
• 93 percent of decision makers are planning to make increases to their investment in food monitoring technology.
• 41 percent of decision makers say that RFID tags improve food traceability more than any other technology, yet only 31 percent currently use them. Emerging technologies such as temperature-sensitive labels and blockchain could also likely have an impact on food safety within the supply chain.

Zebra technologies develop products that help companies keep food safe for consumers throughout all locations along the supply chain.

Food Safety Automation Through Touch Screens and Tablets

Improper handling of food can put both employees and customers at risk for potentially serious foodborne illness. Poor protocols can increase liability and undermine your company’s reputation and bottom line. Traditionally, paper logs are used to record temperature data to monitor food safety along the supply chain.

The supply chain is larger and busier than ever before. Safety is paramount and the delays associated with paper and pencil could be catastrophic for the entire supply chain. It could drastically slow recording down, and it doesn’t provide any type of continuous monitoring.
Technology such as touch screens and tablets can help to better bolster food safety.

Disney CHEFS and Zebra

Disney CHEFS is a mobile application developed by Disney that automates food safety expertise gained through operating their amusement parks. They are increasing third-party licensing for this program, opening it up for use in warehouses, grocery stores, and other stops along the supply chain. This application paired with Zebra hardware are prime examples of how to use technology to keep employees and consumers safe.

Download our Infographic to Closing the Trust Gap: Technology and the Food Supply Chain

Follow HACCP Procedures for Stricter Compliance

Technology Speeds Up The Temperature Monitoring Process

When businesses logging food safety issues on paper logs discover potential safety issues, it may come with potentially dangerous or costly delays. It’s not a system that lends itself to immediate action. Bluetooth sensors allow for speedy, continuous monitoring with a dependable data set.

Health Department Compliance

When companies fail to comply with health department standards it can lead to further complications. Errors in temperature control, or lack of training for new employees can lead to costly mistakes and additional food safety risk. The use of current technology can make it easier for your team to maintain consistent, accurate readings.

The Use of TC51 and TC70 Computers or the ET50 Tablet from Zebra

The Zebra TC51 and TC70 computers, or the ET50 tablet from Zebra serve as a way to utilize the latest digital technologies to improve your company’s food safety regulations. Integrated food safety software can help your company remain in compliance with all food safety regulations in an effort to keep employees and customers safe.

The Use of Rugged Tablets

Durable touch screen computers and handheld tablets can help add technology to the food safety process as well. The IP65 and IP67 tablets are standardized to MIL-STD 810G standards. They can handle the drips, spills, and splashes that can occur while handling food products in the supply chain.

Enhanced Temperature Control

Strict temperature controls are one of the most significant measures for food safety. Zebra computers, tablets, and temperature control sensors can collect and analyze data in your cold storage areas making sure that your protocols are closely monitored.

Remote Temperature Probes

Zebra tablets and computers work with sanitized Bluetooth and Wi-Fi thermometers designed to ensure proper temperatures during food preparation. The protocols to follow when temperatures are not within guidelines are also readily available. Real time and historical reports can also easily be accessed within the system.

Accessible Data

With the Disney CHEFS program on Zebra computers and tablets, all food safety data is automatically recorded onto the device and becomes immediately accessible. It becomes easy to access critical data within the system and keep employees and customers safe. It’s also not susceptible to human error in the same way that paper logs would be.

Food and Beverage Distribution Labels

Zebra also offers printing and labeling options designed to meet the unique temperature conditions within your warehouse. This allows for better transparency and stronger food safety adherence. We have labels suited to freezers, humid warehouse conditions, or dry storage applications.

Our labels are known for:

• Reliable scannability
• Durable adhesiveness
• Maximum printer uptime

Using Better Technology to Create a Stronger Adherence to Food Safety

Technology can help you to educate your employees and consumers on the importance of food safety within the supply chain. Simple prompts for when to take and record food temperatures, or when to wash your hands can help minimize training and let your employees know what is expected of them. The opportunity is also there to educate consumers about the steps that you take to ensure that their food is kept under the safest standards while in your care.

The combination of Zebra hardware with applications like Disney CHEFS allow for continual measurements, and easy access to data, drastically improving food safety and keeping employees and customers safe from foodborne illness.

Download the 10-page Food Safety Supply Chain Vision Study “Technology and the Food Supply Chain –
The path toward better food safety through traceability and improved consumer confidence”

Download “Food and Beverage Distribution Labels: Specialized labels for your environment”

Download the application brief – “Automating Food Safety Assurance with Zebra Touch Screen Computers and Tablets
REAL-TIME WIRELESS FOOD SAFETY TECHNOLOGY”

For more information, visit www.imprint-e.com  or contact us at (855)745-4464 or drop us an email at customer_service@imprint-e.com.

But it’s not a problem limited to the meat industry, or even the food industry alone. Maybe you run an ambulance company, and your EMS technicians are responsible for monitoring the medications on board. It’s up to your EMS team to ensure the medications are being stored in the proper cold temperature conditions while tending to the immediate emergency associated with the next call.

Cold storage is an issue all throughout the food and pharmaceutical industries, and the supply chain. It’s critical that these products are kept in proper storage conditions to protect the health and safety of both customers and employees.

The Old Way of Doing Things

Companies tasked with cold storage traditionally have relied on paper logs and analog equipment to complete the task. But these manual readings are slow and inefficient. They also don’t tell the whole story of what’s happening.

Manual readings with a thermometer do not provide continuous data points over time, which can be problematic. For example, let’s say that your company takes a reading every 12 hours. If you lost power at hour six and regained it at hour seven, the unit will have returned to proper temperatures and you might never know about this issue.

Eventually, the technology emerged to monitor cold storage products with a USB-based sensor, but this is not without its limitations as well. For one, drivers frequently don’t have computers in their trucks, so the ability to monitor cold storage in transit situations is limited.

Sensors must be plugged into a computer in an office setting to view data. By the time this is done, the readings are dated, and the product may have been exposed to non-compliant temperatures.

There is also no way to confirm whether the sensor was working after it’s been placed in a box. In order to check the sensor, the box would need to be opened either mid shipment or upon receipt. The act of opening the box itself can risk exposing the product to non-compliant temperatures.

Data must be downloaded physically via a USB connection with a computer. It’s often in a PDF format and must be emailed to quality control who review it for compliance. The process can take 15 to 30 minutes. There’s also a potential for mismatching data with devices, causing inaccuracies or setbacks.

Download our guide to Enhance EMS Quality with Zebra Electronic Temperature Sensors

An Easier Way to Monitor Temperatures

Zebra Wireless Sensor Solutions

The M-300 and M-300-P Temperature Sensors

The M-300 and M-300-P Bluetooth temperature sensors from Zebra make it easier to track cold storage food or pharmaceutical product in transit. These sensors can be placed inside trucks, containers, or other packaging to monitor temperatures.

Historical data from these sensors is also easy to view, and easy to download into the cloud.

The S-400 Sensor

This Bluetooth enabled temperature sensor offers wireless access through packing materials, containers, and cold chain equipment for easy data access. It’s small enough to fit into most containers, and readings can be made from smartphones, tablets, or fixed gateways. Alarms, data logging intervals, startup options, and time and temperature units give users a maximum level of flexibility and control.

OCEABrigde

This gateway provides a fast and easy way to read data from the S-400 and M series cold temperature monitors. The OCEABridge enhances the performance of these Bluetooth enabled sensors by reading data automatically in real time. It collects readings from multiple sources in just a few seconds. Shipments containing a high volume of cold storage products can be more easily monitored from one source.

The OCEABridge works seamlessly in an ethernet or Wi-Fi infrastructure, transmitting readings automatically into the EDGECloud, where all data is accessible and alerts can be generated.

EDGEVue Mobile App and Web Applications

The EDGEVue mobile and web applications allow users fast and convenient on-demand access to temperature data. These two applications can make cold storage monitoring easier whether you are the meat company or EMS driver in the above examples, or anywhere else along the supply chain.

The Zebra temperature sensor equipment does not rely on a USB device that requires a computer connection, to access critical data. Bluetooth technology on your mobile devices is all that is required to connect with strategically placed temperature sensors for accurate data readings.

You Don’t Have to Do It The Old Way Anymore

Monitoring your cold temperature storage doesn’t have to be a complex or complicated process. You don’t need to use reams of paper and clunky binders to take down data points. You also don’t need to rely on inefficient USB equipment that requires a computer connection to view critical data points.

With Zebra’s cold temperature sensor technology and the infrastructure behind it, you can have access to your critical cold temperature data at any stage. It’s an easier more convenient system that is designed to protect your employees and customers while keeping the entire supply chain safer.

Download the case application – “Improve Food Delivery and Safety with the help of Zebra Electronic Temperature Sensors”

Download the case application – “Enhance Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Compliance in Shipping and Storage”

For more information, visit www.imprint-e.com  or contact us at (855)745-4464 or drop us an email at customer_service@imprint-e.com.

Barcode producers need to ensure that their codes are readable and certify that they meet industry requirements.

DEFINING BARCODE VERIFICATION AND ISO CERTIFIED BARCODE VERIFIERS

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Barcode verification is a grading process. It assesses the quality of the barcodes and whether they meet industry standards ISO/ANSI standards. Verification helps guide barcode producers through the marking process and certifies the code quality with printed reports. Barcode verification hardware and software needs depend on a variety of factors such as the barcode symbology, size, printer, and marking methods.

A barcode verifier is what helps make sure your barcodes can be read correctly throughout your enterprise and supply chain. A verifier provides critical information addressing a range of circumstances that might impact barcode reads, verification, and ease-of-use like optic scanners or lasers, 1D versus 2D barcodes, range of sweep distances, and more. Barcode verifiers assign an overall grade to a code based on measurements of several parameters.

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These parameters are the factors that affect barcode readers’ ability to identify and decode a code. Verifiers test different parameters for 1D, 2D, and DPM codes based on governing standards like the ISO international standard and provide an official/regulatory caliber verification.   

THE IMPORTANCE OF BARCODE VERIFICATION AND THE BENEFITS TO YOUR BUSINESS

Barcode verifiers check to ensure those you are printing are the highest quality and measure them against ANSI or ISO specifications. Simply put, a barcode verifiers job is to ensure accuracy and repeatability of your barcodes.

BARCODE VERIFICATION PRODUCTS THE COGNEX WAY

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Cognex offers a range of barcode verification technology that ensures the readability and compliance of 1D and 2D barcodes to standard industry guidelines. With proprietary high-resolution imaging and advance algorithms (for analysis), Cognex’ verifiers provide consistent and repeatable results. Cognex barcode verification technology solutions include fixed-mount barcode readers and a range of DataMan Series (150/260, 370, 470, and 475V) verifiers.

The difference between a reader and a verifier is that a reader is designed to read barcodes and may (depending on the software) provide print quality metrics that are useful for process control and improvement. A barcode verifier ensures that the codes are marked correctly and meet industry guidelines rather than an individual producer’s quality requirements. Barcode verifiers are a superior measure of symbol readability. The process of verifying a barcode is vastly different than simply reading a barcode. As such, a barcode verifier is a critical piece to your operation.

While most companies are using an offline, operator-based verifier to spot check codes one at a time, the way forward in barcode verification is with an inline barcode verifier. Handheld verifiers may not verify as accurately.  Real offline verifiers require a PC and are not very user friendly for shop floor verification.  An inline barcode verifier provides automated high-speed verification and quality reporting directly on your line. This prevents product waste and chargebacks. For this kind of job, we would recommend Cognex’s DataMan 475V Series an inline barcode verifier.  The 475V offers immediate feedback and visual diagnostic information which gives operators the ability to identify and correct printing and process control issues as they happen. The 475V auto-generates detailed reports for traceability, code quality, and compliance. The 475V verifies barcodes on high speed lines without skimping on analytics all while still achieving compliant barcode verification results.  Simply put, this inline verifier lends itself to speed, precision, efficiency, accuracy, and compliance of your operations overall.   

Ensure your barcodes are readable and meet industry requirements by finding your barcode verification solution today.

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Researching barcode verifiers will immediately produce overwhelming results and price points. Our staff, with years of experience in barcode technology solutions, can help you narrow your choices and find the best fit for your operation, your business objectives, and your budget.  We partner with industry leaders, like Cognex, to provide the best barcode verifiers available and to customize a solution to fit your unique needs. Contact us.

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