An intelligent model for assuring food quality in managing a multi-temperature food distribution centre

In the globalized cold chain network, the effective distribution of perishable food is of utmost importance when transporting multiple types of food with different handling requirements, such as temperature and humidity, for minimizing the food spoilage rate during transportation. Currently, mismanagement of premium fruit and vegetables leads to a huge amount of capital loss such that logistics service providers (LSPs) apply refrigerated trucks to deliver them for the sake of minimizing the food spoilage rate during transportation. Since different types of food have their own different handling requirements, traditional refrigerated distribution management at a fixed environmental condition is insufficient. Without considering such requirements, traditional route planning by merely minimizing the travelling distance is ineffective in maintaining food quality, resulting in an increased likelihood of food deterioration and food chilling injury. In addition, there is a lack of real-time product monitoring to control violations of the required handling requirements in order to prevent delivery of spoilt food to customers. In this paper, an internet of things (IoT)-based route planning system (IRPS) is proposed (i) to design a multi-temperature packaging model, (ii) to develop real-time product monitoring during transportation, and (iii) to optimize routing solutions. Under the IoT framework, the ambient environmental information can be collected automatically by building a wireless sensor network so as to develop total product monitoring during the distribution process. Experiments using the Taguchi method are conducted to examine the most effective packaging model for various products in terms of maximizing duration of optimal environment conditions in tertiary packaging. By integrating the above results and travelling constraints, the optimal delivery routes can be formulated by using genetic algorithms (GAs). With the aid of IRPS, the food spoilage rate during transportation and the time needed in route planning and in the delivery of deteriorated food can be reduced, while customer satisfaction is enhanced.