With the use of 4500 “smart food bins,” Coles Group has implemented an IoT-powered track-and-trace system to reduce equipment losses in its poultry supply chain. These bins transport poultry between farms and its distribution centre.
Coles stated that it is attempting to strengthen the resilience of its Protein Cold Chain (sourcing and stocking chicken) as part of its digital transformation.
Its objectives are to decrease the number of food bins lost, better understand whether and where they are being damaged, increase stock turnaround, and improve equipment pooling for transit.
Based on how the bins are used, Coles may also optimise delivery routes and equipment pooling. Supermarkets can get this data using the LoscamOnline tracking system.
The level of data that Coles had access to before the rollout was at the truck level.
According to Coles’ national meat processing general manager Larry Kavanagh, “the smart food bins ensure that we can track the poultry from the moment they are loaded by our suppliers at farms through to the time they reach our distribution center, reinforcing our food safety standards while saving time and minimising waste.”
The ability to track temperature and other aspects of asset performance contributes to waste reduction and poultry quality assurance.
Coles asserted that by tripling the amount of empty bins returned, waste and cost were cut by 25% for the asset pool.
