“Our aim is to make a measurable difference to the cold chain bottom line”, says Group Managing Director,
Michael White.

Perishable food losses in Australia are valued in tens of millions of dollars per annum – and is estimated that over 30 per cent of these losses are directly attributable to cold chain failures, causing both economical and ecological harm. That’s why Michael White and his team at Cooltrax have developed a suite of unique solutions that deliver real-time visibility across the chain and the means to address failures before they occur.

By integrating a range of advanced technologies such as wireless (RF), GPS, cellular communications and web based software, the Cooltrax solution is able to integrate key performance data from refrigerated transport equipment and deliver it to the operator via SMS and Email. It monitors all parameters of the reefer unit – such as set point, return air, send air and mode – across all zones, as well as fuel consumption, box temperatures and door events, and integrates this information with continuous location monitoring.

According to National Sales Manager, Peter Goulis, that real-time visibility is the key to driving product losses and inefficiencies out of the supply chain. “As food safety and product quality demands increase, refrigerated transport operators must have both historical and real-time visibility of pending failures and the tools at hand to address issues as they occur.

“Depending upon the severity of the event, we enable full remote control of the reefer so that corrective measures can be taken before the integrity of the load is compromised. Thereby, our customers can be pro-active and meet all the reporting requirements expected of today’s transport industry.”

Cooltrax is now the largest supplier of temperature management solutions to the refrigerated transport market in Australia and New Zealand. It also has customers across 20 states in the US as well as Canada. “Our solutions are now enhancing cold chain efficiencies across the globe”, says Michael. Our customers span all segments of the cold chain including food producers, transport providers, distributors and retailers including restaurants and hotel chains.

For over 40 years, Insituform has been a world leader in the installation of cured-in-place pipe liner (CIPP) technologies and services For the rehabilitation of water and waste water pipeline systems. In order to monitor the temperature of its product when travelling to its installation sites, Insituform calls upon Cooltrax to provide the right solution.

When Insituform researched the market for a way to keep a close eye on its CIPP pipe liners, they were not only impressed with Cooltrax’s ability to monitor and control its temperatures, but also fascinated by its up-to-the-minute tracking system. In the end, the decision to bring the Victorian-based company’s equipment aboard was a no-brainer.

“We now utilise Cooltrax in monitoring the temperature of our CIPP pipe liners between the time it leaves the depot and to the time we begin the installation process on site,” Insituform’s Communications Officer Dalin Vann says. “Currently, we have four Cooltrax V3 Interface systems in place.”

Cooltrax’s wireless systems such as the V3 Interface enable product temperatures to be captured and reported automatically in real-time from a distribution centre or inside a refrigerated truck. The system tracks the truck’s location, product temperature, the identity of the driver, and, of course, monitors the performance of its refrigerated assets. “We can also remotely control the reefer set point, clear alarms, change the settings of the operational parameters, along with powering the units on and off; all by the comfort of our office.

The temperature download facility is an easy process and simple to use,” says Cooltrax’ Peter Goulis.
Primarily, the V3 interface is a real-time temperature monitoring tool that provides control over temperature settings. This is a job that Cooltrax’s system is more than equipped to handle. “Our pipe liner is resin impregnated and the resin can cure in the truck if adequate conditions are not maintained,” says Dalin. “The Cooltrax system gives us notice of rising temperatures and allows us to organise service to the refrigeration system or transfer of the product to another truck, thus avoiding expensive product loss.”

Since 1971, Insituform’s UK founder Eric Wood has sourced a slew of innovative methods for rehabilitating pipelines, which eventually led to the first commercial installation of the company’s CIPP system in the UK that revolutionised the trenchless technology industry. Today, CIPP is considered to be one of the most widely used methods of rehabilitating pipe lines throughout the world with Insituform expanding its services worldwide ultimately creating the Insituform Pacific brand in Australia. With close to 100 employees and sites in Melbourne, Sydney, Newcastle and Brisbane, the company continues to explore all methods and avenues to innovating its brand.

“The trenchless industry in Australia is becoming a very competitive contracting market,” says Dalin. “Many companies are now offering a wide range of trenchless technologies and products for utilities and municipalities of water, waste water, mining and broadband-type industries.” Through Insituform’s experience with Cooltrax and the reliance on its services, the partnership between the two companies will continue to reap positive gains. “Cooltrax has been excellent to deal with and has delivered on all promises,” Dalin states while deferring back to Insituform’s future prospects in relation to Cooltrax.

“We will continue to use the Cooltrax brand as it suits our needs and it easily pays for itself versus product loss. They constantly provide high quality and reliable refrigeration monitoring units, and are willing to implement innovative solutions to meet our needs.

It is Insituform’s propensity for upholding quality, reliability, innovation and leadership in shielding the world’s infrastructure that Dalin knows will hold the company in good stead. “Insituform itself will continue to focus on our higher margin value added tube products while rationalising risk and return in the competitive contracting markets,” she says. “In particular, Insituform Pacific will focus on broadening its capabilities in applications for water and pressure pipelining.”

Over the last two centuries, refrigeration’s great strides offered us ways to preserve and cool food, commodities – and even ourselves. Refrigeration connected distant production hubs with urban centers burgeoning around the world. It tore down the barriers of climates and seasons. And while it helped to boost industrial processes, it became an industry itself.

Today, the transfer of land from agricultural use to mere housing increases not only food transport distances, but also unveils the vulnerability of populations to food insecurity if there are disruptions in the supply chain. Therefore, a vast fleet of refrigerated transport equipment is constantly on the move to feed the world, moving almost everything that can be found in the local grocery store. But, ensuring an ample supply of fresh food and perishable goods is a task inconceivable without high technology. Australian company Cooltrax is at the forefront of that development, creating refrigeration monitoring and management solutions that are now being used all around the world. In a nutshell, Cooltrax’ monitoring technology captures and manages key performance data from refrigerated transport equipment and delivers it to the operator. It can monitor every parameter of the reefer unit (set point, return air, send air,
mode etc.) across all zones, as well as fuel consumption, box temperatures and door events, and combine this information with continuous location monitoring.

“When an event is captured, it is reported in real-time,” says National Sales Manager Cooltrax Peter Goulis. “Depending upon the severity of the event, we enable full remote control of the reefer no matter where it is so that corrective measures can be taken before the integrity of the load is compromised. Thereby, Cooltrax customers can be pro- active and meet all reporting requirements. “Real-time visibility is the key to driving product losses and inefficiencies out of the supply chain,” Peter adds. “As food safety and product quality demands increase, refrigerated transport operators must have both historical and real-time visibility of pending failures and the tools at hand to address issues as they occur.”

In addition, Cooltrax is able to provide insight that may affect the trailer and refrigeration system design into the future. “Several companies have already deployed Cooltrax RF tags to map temperatures throughout an entire refrigerated vehicle. This provides considerable insight as to the impact of loads on airflow and therefore the effectiveness of refrigeration,” says Peter. After all, refrigerated transport is not all about cooling fresh food for a maximum time. It is a complex challenge to adjust temperature and humidity to suit a varying freight tasks. Fur and woolen goods producers, for instance, beat the moths by using refrigerated warehouses and trailers. Refrigeration also helps nurseries and florists, especially to meet seasonal needs since cut flowers can now last longer and travel longer distances. Even sugar mills, confectioneries, and chocolate factories, as well as bakeries and tea companies find refrigeration help their business.

“In that sense, Cooltrax’ high-tech solution is more than just complex software system,”says Peter. “It’s is driving Australia’s economy. That’s why we have introduced their cooling solution across other segments of the cold chain to include monitoring at product level and at each of the temperature controlled environments in which products are held as they pass along the cold chain.”

With summer now in full swing it is more important than ever to ensure coolrooms are running efficiently and to correct temperature.

Biodynamic Marketing Co, like most wholesale businesses in the market, relies on coolrooms working efficiently to prevent fresh produce from spoiling. “We know the coolrooms are on but in the past did not know if they were main-taining the correct temperature when we were not on site,” says Peter Podolinsky from Biodynamic Marketing Co.

Cooltrax technology came to the rescue with technology that monitors the temperature of coolrooms and the door status 24 hours a day. If the temperature falls out of the required range the system sends the recipient an email or text message warning them of the change.

Peter says the system paid for itself in the first week. “We installed Cooltrax in our ten coolrooms and it was lucky we did. If we had not received notification of an increase in temperature all the milk stored in the coolrooms would have been lost”.

One of the benefits that attracted Peter to the system is the ability to relocate hardware. “Installation is straightforward. There is no problem moving it from the current market to Epping or to any other coolroom site.”

“You can log in whenever and wherever you are and can see what the coolroom temperature is running at. You can print out reports in a number of formats as well which is great for Food Safety Standards. Overall it gives you complete peace of mind”.

With the continued demand for operational efficiencies and better cold chain risk management – supply chain failure, bioterrorism, non-compliance, product security, and theft –organizations throughout the supply chain seek more robust solutions for tracking and monitoring products and assets. Cooltrax Americas is uniquely suited to offer solutions that deliver real-time, vital information that is needed across the cold chain to make informed, strategic business decisions about pricing, distribution, and asset utilization.

According to Michael White, CEO Of Cooltrax Australia, parent company to Cooltrax Americas, “We see tremendous growth opportunity in Cooltrax Americas as manufacturers, suppliers and transportation organizations work to improve operational efficiencies, produce fuel savings, and secure better tracking of products and the trucks moving throughout the supply chain. To manage the interest and projected company growth, these new executive appointments reflect the strong leadership and visionary guidance Cooltrax Americas needs as we make significant strides in expanding our market leadership. Together Shawn and Larry bring over four decades of experience driving and leading corporate growth.”

Leadership Team

Together, Shawn Allaway, a proven high tech enterprise veteran, and Larry Nuttall, who has advised nearly 30 companies on business development, operations, and financial services, will work closely on Cooltrax Americas’ corporate strategies and operations, and product development initiatives.

Allaway brings to Cooltrax Americas over two decades of experience driving revenue growth and building sound operational foundations, including support services. As president, Allaway is responsible for expanding Cooltrax Americas’ market share as a leader in cold chain monitoring and tracking technology, as well as the development and execution of product marketing strategies. In addition, he will focus on expanding Cooltrax Americas’ strategic partnerships and reseller channels. Allaway also serves as president of ConverterTechnology, and has held executive and senior management positions at NWN Corporation, Navisite, Navint Consulting, and Surebridge.

“The need for efficient management of the cold chain from farm to fork is paramount to the success of every organization throughout the supply chain,” said Allaway. “Building upon Cooltrax global presence, I am committed to expanding the company’s footprint throughout the Americas, and am confident that our solutions provide the pivotal competitive advantage for companies manufacturing, distributing, transporting, and selling temperature sensitive products and organizations seeking up-to-the-minute tracking of expensive and vital assets used in the supply chain.”

Nuttall joins Cooltrax Americas as executive director responsible for product marketing and customer validation. Leveraging his extensive consulting experience, Nuttall has helped companies evolve quickly, experience rapid sales growth and turn profitable through venture capital, angel investments, or organic growth through reinvestment of profits. Nuttall serves as the Chairman of the Board of Directors for ConverterTechnology, and is co-founder of the technology software venture, Newforma, where he served on the executive management team as a vice president. Additional experience includes serving as vice president, U.S. sales, for Microsoft Business Solutions.

Nuttall notes, “The ability to track products easily and readily as they move through the cold chain, and to monitor the performance and location of the assets transporting the products is key to improving operational efficiency. It is my understanding of this strategic use of information that will allow me to guide the product marketing and customer validation efforts for Cooltrax Americas.”

Unparalleled Operational Efficiency from the Only Real-Time Monitoring System

Cooltrax offers the industry’s first real-time, 24/7 end-to-end solution set that monitors and tracks perishable products and assets throughout the cold chain. Active RF technology is combined with a single web-based interface to track, capture and automatically report product temperatures and locations in real-time – whether from inside a reefer, a distribution center or a refrigerated retail cabinet.

Realizing the rapidly gained benefits offered by the Cooltrax solution, fleets (private and branded), warehouse and distribution centers, are driving the company’s rapid growth. These customers often realize measurable benefits in operational efficiency – cost and waste reductions, greater transparency for asset management and utilization, regulatory compliance and product safety, improved shelf life, and real-time response – in as little as days after implementation.

Cold Car USA, is headquartered in Boerne, TX.  The Company specializes in the production of truck bodies and complementary refrigeration systems unique to local delivery applications.  The company holds various patents in the area of refrigeration cold plates and body manufacturing techniques.

Cooltrax Americas, a wholly owned subsidiary of Cooltrax Asia Pacific of Melbourne, Australia.  Cooltrax designs and manufactures specialized hardware and web based applications suited specific to interpreting temperature, location, and Cooltrax wireless sensors.  The Cooltrax portfolio of applications addresses cold chain monitoring in each component to commercial cold chain- in production, in storage, and in transit.   It’s integration with both ThermoKing and Carrier Transicold refrigeration systems offers real time monitoring as well as remote control of remote assets.  A unique blend of GSM, GPS and 433 mhz RF technology offers a comprehensive solution to companies sensitive to cold chain integrity and HACCP compliance.

Globally, perishable food losses are valued in billions of dollars annually. It is estimated that over 30% are directly attributable to cold chain failures, causing both economical and ecological harm. Cooltrax has developed a solution to avoid economical loss and environmental impairment.

“Strawberries, for instance, face massive supply chain losses of around 20 percent,” says Managing Director of Cooltrax Michael White.. “In fact, one in five strawberries picked in the field is wasted. So too are energy, fertilizer and additional resources used to produce the strawberry. “By improving the product’s shelf-life, though, we can provide big savings for every stakeholder in the supply chain and ensure that our increasingly scarce resources are not wasted. That’s our goal.”

The Cooltrax solution is able to integrate key performance data from refrigerated transport equipment and deliver it to the operator. It can monitor all parameters of the reefer unit (set point, return air, send air, mode etc.) across all zones, as well as fuel consumption, box temperatures and door events, and combine the information with continuous location monitoring. “When an event is captured, it is reported in real-time,” says National Sales Manager Cooltrax Peter Goulis.. “Depending upon the severity of the event, we enable full remote control of the reefer so that corrective measures can be taken before the integrity of the load is compromised. Thereby, Cooltrax customers can be pro- active and meet all reporting requirements. “Real-time visibility is the key to driving product losses and inefficiencies out of the supply chain,” Peter adds. “As food safety and product quality demands increase, refrigerated transport operators must have both historical and real-time visibility of pending failures and the tools at hand to address issues as they occur.”

In addition, Cooltrax is able to provide insight that may affect the trailer design of the future. “Several companies have already deployed Cooltrax RF tags to map temperatures throughout an entire refrigerated vehicle. This provides considerable insight as to the impact of loads on airflow and therefore the effectiveness of refrigeration,” says Peter. Cooltrax evolved as a commercial outcome of a seafood export supply chain project undertaken for the Federal Government in 1999. This project involved investigating the efficiency and integrity of the supply chain between Australia and Japan for Atlantic salmon and Bluefin Tuna. These products have particular temperature control requirements that if breached can cause a loss of shelf life and substantially diminished value in the Japanese markets. “Upon completion of the project, it was clear that the lack of ‘end-to-end’ visibility across the supply chain reduced the industry’s capacity to manage product integrity and maximise product shelf life,” says Michael. “To create a system that provides true end-to-end visibility in real- time, Cooltrax was formed.”

Michael White founded Cooltrax in 2001, creating a process patent that enabled the sharing of data across multiple stakeholder groups by integrating a range of advanced technologies such as wireless (RF), GPS, cellular communications and web-based software. “The business started with two employees and quickly expanded to include a small software development team to build the software system,” Michael explains. “Following an exhaustive global search, it was determined that the monitoring hardware required to capture temperature and other key environmental data in real-time did not exist. Subsequently, a technology partner was engaged (Diverse Electronic Solutions) to create the unique hardware infrastructure deployed today.” Following four years of intensive research and development, Cooltrax began marketing its unique solution to the refrigerated transport industry in Australia. “By that time, our business expanded to 12 staff. In 2009 we introduced our solution across other segments of the cold chain to include monitoring at product level and at each of the temperature controlled environments in which products are held as they pass along the cold chain.”

Today, the Cooltrax solution integrates temperature and other performance data associated with processing facilities, distribution centres and retail stores to provide full end-to-end visibility. The company is the largest supplier of temperature monitoring solutions to the refrigerated transport market in Australia and New Zealand and just expanded into the North American market. Despite constant growth, the company’s philosophy has stayed the same. “Better performance means less waste, greater cold chain visibility and increasing profits for our clients. As a side effect, it will reduce the carbon footprint and the waste of natural resources. Everyone wins.”

Core-Mark is one of the largest broad-line, full-service marketers and distributors of packaged consumer products in North America. Core-Mark is also the leader in providing fresh products to the convenience store industry. Founded in 1888, Core-Mark provides distribution and logistics services to over 24,000 retail locations across the United States and Canada through 24 distribution centers. The implementation of Cooltrax Fresh-in-Transit will enable Core-Mark to monitor, in real-time, the location, temperature alarms, and door activity in each compartment of its fleet of multi- and dual-temp trailers.

Brad Bartlett, Director of Business Development for Cooltrax, said “We are encouraged by Core-Mark’s endorsement. Building on our market dominance in Australia and New Zealand, this partnership paves the way for Cooltrax expansion into the US and Canadian markets. It provides our clients confidence we will continue to evolve the technology and provide a pathway for future innovation in cold chain management.”

Frank Kovach, Director of Transportation for Core-Mark, said “Cooltrax brings a very innovative approach that complements Core-Mark’s commitment to maintaining temperature integrity across our cold chain. We realized early in our evaluation of various suppliers, that Cooltrax brought much more than a reefer monitoring and tracking solution. Through Cooltrax’s unique long-range wireless sensor technology, our managers have visibility of trailer temperatures and door activity across all zones in real time. CoolTrax brings a complete solution to the distribution of our refrigerated product. We can now remotely monitor our Carrier refrigeration units, determine the location of our un-tethered trailers and bring this information into our state of the art warehouse management system.”

Mr. Kovach further stated “Core-Mark will also implement the application in our distribution centers. Through the installation of the Cooltrax Gateway in Distribution Centers, the company will be able to monitor critical control points throughout storage and holding rooms. The ability to leverage the same infrastructure and application platform across the 24 facilities provides a comprehensive view of our cold chain through one portal. This was also important in our vendor selection. We see Cooltrax as a cold chain management partner for the long term. Their innovative and creative approach gives us a roadmap for meeting future regulatory requirements and customer expectations for credible temperature compliance, in-storage, in- route and upon delivery.”

Cooltrax is a world-leading supplier of real-time cold chain monitoring and tracking solutions. Specifically developed for perishable foods and pharmaceuticals, Cooltrax solutions are focused on reducing spoilage, extending product shelf life, improving food safety compliance and driving supply chain efficiencies.

“The CoolTrax integration of GSM, GPS and RFID creates a unique blend of telematics technology specifically for monitoring the critical mobile asset link in the cold chain,” said Brad Bartlett, director of business development for CoolTrax Americas. “We are pleased to extend our solutions to fleets using industry-leading Carrier Transicold refrigeration equipment.”

The CoolTrax tracking and monitoring system is approved by Carrier Transicold for one- way communication with North America-based transport refrigeration units, including nearly all Carrier single-temperature and multi-temperature units using either the standard Summit® or Advance® microprocessors dating back to 1996. Carrier Transicold’s universal connectivity system, comprised of an adapter harness, DataTrak® control software and additional software upgrades, facilitates communications between refrigeration units and the CoolTrax system.

CoolTrax uses GSM cellular communications to monitor up to 20 remote RFID tags on a single truck or trailer. These tags can provide independent zone temperatures, onboard fuel monitoring, and door open/close time and positions. A GPS locator provides asset-tracking functions.

The Fresh InMotion Internet application from CoolTrax permits real-time reporting of refrigeration unit status and remote tag temperatures via Web browser, and also provides email and text alerts of time-sensitive exceptions. CoolTrax’s recently released TractorLink allows for low cost mating of the trailer ID with its corresponding power unit.

About Carrier Transicold
Carrier Transicold provides industry-leading transport temperature control and anti-idling solutions with a complete line of equipment for refrigerated trucks, trailers and containers, auxiliary power units for heavy-duty trucks and transport air-conditioning systems for buses and recreational vehicles. Carrier Transicold is a unit of Carrier Corp. Headquartered in Farmington, Conn., Carrier Corp. is the world’s largest provider of heating, air-conditioning and refrigeration solutions. With 2008 revenues of $14.9 billion, Carrier has approximately 41,000 employees worldwide and operations in more than 170 countries. Carrier is part of United Technologies Corp., a Hartford, Connecticut-based provider of products and services to the aerospace and building systems industries worldwide. Visit www.carrier.com for more information.