Is your data logger living up to its potential? Most fall short in providing actionable data analytics and supply chain insights — they are dinosaurs in the current, rapidly evolving supply chain technology marketplace. It's time to expect more.

Here are five key reasons managers of perishable supply chains hate data loggers, and how swapping in a modern risk management solution can serve them better.

Data is trapped in PDFs, or worse, thrown away. Stop throwing away valuable data.  If you go through the trouble of collecting data, you might as well use it. The problem with many loggers is that the data is only used when there’s a problem. Most of the time the devices are just thrown away. Best case, the data is stored in PDF files where it is never to be used again. 

When a shipment arrives and appears spoiled, the receiver points the finger at the shipper and attempts to use data from the logger to determine blame. But absent an overt problem with the shipment, the logger is thrown away – and the data along with it. This is a missed opportunity. Real insights come from understanding data from all shipments  – the good, the bad and the near misses. This is more easily accomplished with devices that automatically transfer data from all shipments into a cloud-based risk management platform.

Quality falls along a continuum and is not as simple as a good vs. bad binary choice. For example, problems resulting from suboptimal temperature control call for nuanced approaches that go beyond choosing between keeping or discarding the inventory. A data-led approach reduces waste, enhances supply chain performance and lowers costs.

On its own, logger data is incomplete. Most data loggers reveal a product’s temperature at various stages of a voyage or as it sits in storage, but the data lacks context. Layering in other elements for more complete supply chain insights can help tell the full story. 

For example, a supplier could learn about the optimal packaging for different types and lengths of shipments by using an analytics platform to combine that information with time and temperature data. 

These insights can pinpoint areas for improvement and inform future decision making.

Data is not readily sharable or usable. Effective supply chain management involves a great deal of cooperation among supply chain stakeholders — especially in the cold chain where pharmaceuticals efficacy and food safety may hang in the balance. But PDF files from traditional loggers are not easily digestible by data analytics systems nor readily shareable with supply chain partners.

By automatically transferring data from smart devices and presenting it on a common, web-based platform, supply chain stakeholders can work together to navigate today’s advanced supply chains. If, for example, data analysis reveals that a temperature excursion occurred on an airport tarmac,  stakeholders can unite to pressure airport operations to get perishable products into cold storage quicker. 

In effect, supply chain managers can replace an adversarial approach to problems with a more collaborative one.

Data loggers are not customized to your product. Most data loggers these days are inexpensive, but when users realize how difficult it is to derive value from them, they’re quickly disappointed. Data from the typical logger is not easily configurable to support the unique requirements of different commodities, limiting the device’s utility.

A better alternative is an inexpensive, configurable device that transfers data automatically to ensure that the data is not only accessible but is of value to a particular supply chain, in effect, getting more bang for your buck.

Logger data isn’t used to improve processes or performance. Supply chain managers are using data loggers reactively — to validate complaints and shipment rejections  —  when they should also be using them proactively to mitigate risk and prevent issues.

The transactional approach means the logger is used to obtain data on one problem instead of studying data over an extended period of time to gain insights. This also explains why the PDFs generated by these low-level loggers are often discarded, never to be seen again.

More innovative systems utilize analytics to promote collaboration and create a better understanding of supply chains and their gaps. Taking advantage of greater supply chain insights mean improved processes and performance — and, with that, reduced insurance claims and insurance premiums.

Parsyl: Strengthening and Insuring Perishables Supply Chains

Parsyl’s revolutionary products and services sit at the intersection of technology and insurance. Its low-cost sensors gather data to power its risk management solutions and inform its tailored insurance offerings. Parsyl helps ensure that cold chains are maintained and that perishables arrive unspoiled — making financial protection and responsive insurance coverage possible.

“Data is at the core of our risk management offerings and powers our insurance products,” says Alex Haar, Parsyl’s co-founder and Chief Product Officer. “Rather than just insure against risk, we actively work with our customers to help them reduce it.” 

Parsyl’s smart sensors transfer data wirelessly to the cloud at set intervals, waypoints or via a mobile QR code scan. “Our risk management products and services,” says Haar, “allow customers to gain better visibility into shipping and storage conditions and improve supply chain performance, thereby saving cost and reducing risk. All of this also allows us to offer them better insurance and pay claims quickly and efficiently.”

Parsyl has become integral to supply chain management and food safety at Ultco, a seafood shipper. “Parsyl’s data loggers provide verification of safe handling from processor to customer and are traceable to specific products,” says Jeff Ort, the company’s director of quality assurance, North America. “Whether creating and monitoring a shipment in the web platform or activating and including a device for shipment, Parsyl's technology is easy to use.” 

By providing essential knowledge of conditions throughout the supply chain, Parsyl’s integrated solution helps prevent claims and contributes to better supply chain performance, more satisfied customers and lower costs. Parsyl’s integrated approach is the wave of the future.