"Tiger King," Walmart, and Ruth and Naomi: How Optimizing Cold Chain Management Leads to Less Wasteful and More Sustainable Supply Chains

"Tiger King," Walmart, and Ruth and Naomi: How Optimizing Cold Chain Management Leads to Less Wasteful and More Sustainable Supply Chains

This IDC Perspective highlights a number of the causes contributing to the vast waste that occurs across the supply chain, focusing specifically on how remote monitoring through a digitally connected, intelligent supply chain can aid in mitigating waste while also improving overall operations and better servicing customers.In the United States, food waste is estimated at 30–40% of the food supply, based on estimates of 31% food loss at the retail and consumer levels, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service. This equated to approximately $161 billion and £133 billion worth of food in 2010. Many other types of perishables also go to waste, ranging from pharmaceuticals to fresh-cut flowers. Waste is not caused by a single problem but instead arises from a multitude of sources."In recent years, advances in edge technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), RFID, 5G, AI, and mobile have made real-time data monitoring, transmission, analysis, and even prescriptive recommendation possible both to avoid disruption and to optimize operation," said Jordan K. Speer, research manager, Global Supply Chains. "Intelligent sensors that collect data about the immediate environment around them and software that can take in that data at the edge and transmit it to locations far away via high-speed communications technology enable data collected in far-flung locations to move out of silos and get to the parties that need it in time to make intelligent and waste-saving decisions that greatly impact the bottom line and the health of the planet."

Please Note: Extended description available upon request.