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1、附录AThe Cold Chain and its LogisticsAuthors: Dr. Jea n-Paul Rodriguez and Dr. Theo Notteboom1. OverviewWhile Globalizati on has made the relative dista nee betwee n regi ons of the world much smaller, the physical separation of these same regions is still a very important reality. The greater the phy

2、sical separati on, the more likely freight can be damaged in one of the complex tran sport operati ons invo Ived. Some goods can be damaged by shocks while others can be damaged by un due temperature variati ons. For a range of goods labeled as perishables, particularly food, their quality degrades

3、with time since they main tai n chemical reacti ons which rate can be mostly mitigated with lower temperatures. It takes time and coord in ati on to efficie ntly move a shipme nt and every delay can have n egative con seque nces, no tably if this cargo is perishable. To en sure that cargo does not b

4、ecome damaged or compromised throughout this process, bus in esses in the pharmaceutical, medical and food in dustries are in creas in gly rel ying on the cold cha in tech no logy.The cold chain refers to the transportation of temperature sensitive products along a supply cha in through thermal and

5、refrigerated packag ing methods and the logistical pla nning to protect the in tegrity of these shipme nts.Specializati on has led many compa nies to not only rely on major shipp ing service providers such as the United Parcel Service (UPS) and FEDEX, but also more focused industry specialists that

6、have developed a ni che logistical expertise around the shipp ing of temperature sen sitive products. The pote ntial to un dersta nd local rules, customs and en vir onmen tal conditions as well as an estimation of the length and time of a distribution route make them an important factor in global tr

7、ade. As a result, the logistics industry is experiencing a growing level of specializati on and segme ntati on of cold cha in shipp ing in several pote ntial ni che markets within global commodity cha ins. Whole new segme nts of the distributio n in dustry have bee n very active in tak ing adva ntag

8、e of the dual developme nt of the spatial exte nsion of supply chains supported by globalization and the significant variety of goods in circulation. From an econo mic developme nt perspective, the cold cha in en ables many develop ing coun tries to take part in the global perishable products market

9、. From a geographical perspective, the cold chain has the following impacts:* Global. Specializatio n of agricultural functions permitti ng the tran sport of temperature sen sitive food products to dista nt markets. En ables the distributi on of vacc ines and other pharmaceutical or biological produ

10、cts.* Regi on al. Can support the specializati on of fun cti ons and econo mies of scale, such as specialized laboratories.* Local. Timely distributi on to the final con sumer, n amely grocery stores and restaura nts.2. Emerge nee of Cold Chain LogisticsWhile global commodity cha ins are fairly mode

11、r n expa nsions in the tran sportati on in dustry, the refrigerated moveme nt of temperature sen sitive goods is a practice that dates back to 1797 when British fishermen used natural ice to preserve their fish stock piles. This process was also seen in the late 1800s for the movement of food from r

12、ural areas to urban consumption markets, n amely dairy products. Cold storage was also a key comp onent of food trade betwee n colonial powers and their coloni es. For example, in the late 1870s and early 1880s, France was starti ng to receive large shipme nts of froze n meat and mutt on carcasses f

13、rom South America, while Great Brita in imported froze n beef from Australia and pork and other meat from New Zeala nd. By 1910, 600,000 tons of froze n meat was being brought into Great Brita in alone. The first reefer ship for the banana trade was in troduced in 1903 by the Un ited Food Compa ny.

14、This en abled the banana to move from an exotic fruit that had a small market because it arrived in markets too ripe, to one of the worlds most consumed fruit.The temperature con trolled moveme nt of pharmaceuticals and medical supplies is a much more modern transit option than the shipping of refri

15、gerated or frozen food. Since the 1950s, logistical third party compa nies bega n to emerge and in stitute new methods for successfully tran sport ing these global commodities. Before their emerge nee, cold cha in processes were mostly man aged in house by the manu facturer. I n the Un ited States,

16、Food and Drug Admi nistrati on restricti ons and acco un tability measures over the stability of the cold cha in in cited many of these compa nies to rely on specialty couriers rather tha n completely overhauling their supply chain facilities. A specialized industry was thus born. The value of the c

17、old cha in in the preservati on of expe nsive vacci nes and medical supplies was only begi nning to be recog ni zed whe n these logistical providers started to appear. As aware ness bega n to grow, so did the n eed for efficie nt man ageme nt of the cold cha in.The reliance on the cold chain continu

18、es to gain importanee. Within the pharmaceutical in dustry for in sta nce, the test ing, product ion and moveme nt of drugs relies heavily on con trolled and un compromised tran sfer of shipme nts. A large porti on of the pharmaceutical products that move along the cold cha in are in the experime nt

19、 or developme ntal phase. Clinical research and trials is a major part of the industry that costs millions of dollars, but one that also experie nces a failure rate of around 80%. Accordi ng to the Healthcare Distribution Management Association, of the close to 200 billion dollars in pharmaceutical

20、distribution, about 10% are drugs that are temperature sensitive. This makes the cold chain resp on sible for tran sport ing a n ear 20 billi on dollar inv estme nt. If these shipme nts should experie nce any unan ticipated exposure to varia nt temperature levels, they run the risk of beco ming in e

21、ffective or eve n harmful to patie nts.Temperature con trol in the shipme nt of foodstuffs is a comp onent of the in dustry that has continued to rise in necessity with international trade. As a growing number of countries focus their export economy around food and produce producti on, the n eed to

22、keep these products fresh for exte nded periods of time has gained in importa nce. In creas ing in come levels create a cha nge in diet with amon gst others a grow ing appetite for fresh fruit and higher value foodstuffs such as meat and fish. Pers ons with higher socioec ono mic status and with mor

23、e econo mic means are more likely to con sume vegetables and fruit, particularly fresh, not only in higher quantities but also in greater variety. Consumers with increasing purchase power have become preoccupied with healthy eat ing, therefore producers and retailers have resp on ded with an array o

24、f exotic fresh fruits orig in ati ng from around the world.Any major grocery store around the world is likely to carry tangerines from South Africa, apples from New Zeala nd, bananas from Costa Rica and asparagus from Mexico. Thus, a cold chain industry has emerged to service these commodity chains.

25、 In 2002, an estimated 1200 billi on dollars worth of food was tran sported by a fleet of 400,000 refrigerated containers (Reefers). Alone, the United States imports about 30% of its fruits and vegetables and 20% of its food exports can be con sidered perishables. The un compromised quality and safe

26、ty of this food is ofte n take n for gran ted, despite being the main reas on beh ind the ability to sell the food. The cold cha in serves the function of keep ing food fresh for exte nded periods and elim in at ing doubts over the quality of the food products. In all the supply cha ins it is concer

27、ned with, cold chain logistics favor higher levels of integration since maintaining temperature in tegrity requires a higher level of con trol of all the processes invo Ived. It may eve n in cite third party logistics providers to acquire eleme nts of the supply cha in where time and other performa

28、nee factors are the most importa nt, eve n farmi ng. This may invo Ive the acquisiti on of produce farms (e.g. oran ges) to in sure supply reliability.3. Providi ng Temperature Con trolled En viro nmentsThe success of in dustries that rely on the cold cha in comes dow n to knowing how to ship a prod

29、uct with temperature con trol adapted to the shipp ing circumsta nces. Differe nt products require different temperature level maintenance to ensure their integrity throughout the travel process. For in sta nee, the most com mon temperature sta ndards arSba nana (13 C)；chill (2 C), frozen (-18 C) an

30、d deep frozen (-29 C). Staying within this temperature is vital to the in tegrity of a shipme nt along the supply cha in and for perishables it en ables to in sure and optimal shelf life. Any divergence can result in irrevocable and expensive damage; a product can simply lose any market or useful va

31、lue.Being able to ensure that a shipment will remain within a temperature range for an exte nded period of time comes dow n largely to the type of container that is used and the refrigeration method. Factors such as duration of transit, the size of the shipment and the ambie nt or outside temperatur

32、es experie need are importa nt in decidi ng what type of packag ing is required. They can range from small in sulated boxes that require dry ice or gel packs, rolling containers, to a 53 footer reefer which has its own powered refrigeration unit. The major cold cha in tech no logies invo Ive:* Dry i

33、ce. Solid carb on dioxide, is about -80 C and is capable of keep ing a shipme nt frozen for an extended period of time. It is particularly used for the shipping of pharmaceuticals, dan gerous goods and foodstuffs. Dry ice does not melt, in stead it sublimates whe n it comes in con tact with air.* Ge

34、l packs. Large shares of pharmaceutical and medic inal shipme nts are classified as chilled products, which means they must be stored in a temperature range between 2 and 8C The com mon method to provide this temperature is to use gel packs, or packages that contain phase cha nging substa nces that

35、can go from solid to liquid and vice versa tocon trol an en vir onment. Depe nding on the shipp ing requireme nts, these packs can either start off in a frozen or refrigerated state. Along the transit process they melt to liquids, while at the same time capturing escaping energy and maintaining an i

36、nternal temperature.* Eutectic plates. The prin ciple is similar to gel packs. In stead, plates are filled with a liquid and can be reused many times.* Liquid n itroge n. An especially cold substa nee, of about -196C, used to keep pCckages froze n over a long period of time. Mai nly used to tran spo

37、rt biological cargo such as tissues and orga ns. It is con sidered as an hazardous substa nee for the purpose oftran sportatio n.* Quilts. In sulated pieces that are placed over or around freight to act as buffer in temperature variati ons and to main tai n the temperature relatively con sta nt. Thu

38、s, froze n freight will rema in froze n for a Ion ger time period, ofte n long eno ugh not to justify the usage of more expe nsive refrigerati on devices. Quilts can also be used to keep temperature sen sitive freight at room temperature while outside con diti ons can substa ntially vary (e.g. duri

39、ng the summer or the wi nter).* Reefers. Gen eric n ame for a temperature con trolled container, which can be a van, small truck, a semi or a sta ndard ISO container. These contain ers, which are in sulated, are specially desig ned to allow temperature con trolled air circulati on mai ntai ned by an

40、 attached and in depe ndent refrigerati on pla nt. The term in creas in gly apply to refrigerated forty foot ISO contain ers.Perishable or temperature sen sitive items are carried in refrigerated containers (called reefers), that account for a growing share of the refrigerated cargo being transporte

41、d around the world. While in 1980 33% of the refrigerated transport capacity in maritime shipping was containerized, this share rapidly climbed to 47% in 1990, 68% in 2000 and 90% in 2010. About 1.69 millio n TEUs of reefers were being used by 2009. All reefers are pain ted white to in crease the al

42、bedo (share of the in cide nt light being reflected; high albedo implies less solar en ergy absorbed by the surface) with the dominant size being 40 high-cube footers (45R1 being the size and type code). For in sta nee a low albedo container can have its internal temperature in crease to 50C whe nth

43、e exter nal temperature reaches 25C on a sunhy day while a high albedo container see its in ternal temperature in crease to only 38C un der the same con diti ons.The refrigerati on unit of a reefer requires an electric power source duri ng tran sportati on and at a container yard. Regular contain er

44、ships have 10 to 20% of their slots adapted to carry reefers, with some ships having up to 25% of their slots being dedicated. It is important to un derl ine that the refrigeratio n un its are desig ned to main tai n the temperature within a prefixed range, not to cool it down. This implies that the

45、 shipment must be brought to the required temperature before being loaded into a reefer, which requires specialized warehousing and loading / unioading facilities. A new generation of reefers is coming online, which are equipped with an array of sen sors mon itori ng effectively the temperature and

46、shutting the cooling plant when unnecessary. This enables to improve the reliability of temperature con trol and well as exte nd the aut onomy of the reefer.The growth of the in termodal tran sportati on of reefers has in creas in gly required tran sport terminals, namely ports, to dedicate a part o

47、f their storage yards to reefers. This accounts betwee n 1% to 5% of the total term inal capacity, but can be higher for tran sshipme nt hubs. The stack ing requireme nts simply invo Ive hav ing an adjace nt power outlet, but the task is more labor inten sive as each container must be plugged and un

48、 plugged manu ally and the temperature to be monitored regularly as it is the responsibility of the terminal operator to in sure that the reefers keep their temperature within preset ran ges. This may also forbid the usage of an overhead gantry crane impl ying that the reefer stack ing area can be s

49、erviced by different equipment. Even if reefers invoIve higher terminal costs, they are very profitable due to the high value commodities they tran sport.4. The Sett ing and Orga ni zati on of Cold ChainsMoving a shipme nt across the supply cha in without sufferi ng any setbacks or temperature anoma

50、lies requires the establishment of a comprehensive logistical process the maintain the shipme nt in tegrity. This process concerns several phases ranging from the preparati on of the shipments to final verification of the integrity of the shipment at the delivery point:* Shipme nt preparati on. Whe

51、n a temperature sen sitive product is being moved, it is vital to first assess its characteristics. A key issue concerns the temperature con diti oning of the shipment, which should be already at the desired temperature. Cold chain devices are com monly desig ned to keep a temperature con sta nt, bu

52、t not to bring a shipme nt to this temperature, so they would be unable to perform adequately if a shipment is not prepared and con diti on ed. Other concerns in clude the dest in ati on of the shipme nt and the weather conditions for those regions, such as if the shipment will be exposed to extreme

53、 cold or heat along the tran sport route.* Modal choice. Several key factors play into how the shipme nt will be moved. Dista nee between the origin and the final destination (which often includes a set of intermediary locatio ns), the size and weight of the shipme nt, the required exterior temperat

54、ureen vir onment and any time restrictio ns of the product all effect the available tran sportati on opti ons. Short dista nces can be han dled with a van or truck, while a Ion ger trip may require an airpla ne or a container ship.* Custom procedures. If the freight crosses boun daries, custom proce

55、dures can become very important, since cold chain products tend to be time sensitive and more subject toin spect ion tha n regular freight (e.g. pharmaceuticals and biological samples). The difficulty of this task differs depe nding on the n ati on (or econo mic bloc) and the gateway since there are

56、 variati ons in procedures and delays.* The Last Mile. The last stage is the actual delivery of the shipment to its destination,which in logistics is often known as the“ last mile ” . Key considerations when arrafinal delivery concern not only the destination, but the timing. Trucks and vans, the pr

57、imary modes of tran sportati on for this stage, must meet the specificati ons n ecessary to transfer the cold chain shipment. Also important is the final transfer of the shipment into the storage facilities as there is potential for a breach of integrity.* In tegrity and quality assura nee. After th

58、e shipme nt has bee n delivered, any temperature record ing devices or known temperature ano malies must be recorded and made known. This is the step of the logistical process that creates trust and acco un tability, particularly if liability for a damaged shipment is incurred. If problems or anomal

59、ies that compromise a shipment do occur, an effort must be made to identify the source and find corrective acti ons.Therefore, the sett ing and operatio n of cold cha ins is depe ndent on the concerned supply cha ins since each cargo unit to be carried has differe nt requireme nts in terms of dema n

60、d, load in tegrity an d tran sport in tegrity.5. Food Tran sportati onThere is a variety of methods for the tran sport of food products with the banana acco un ti ng for the worlds most significant commodity transported in the food cold chain with 20% of all seabor ne reefers trade. Land, sea and ai

61、r modes all have differe nt structures for keep ing food fresh throughout the transport chain. Innovations in packaging, fruit and vegetable coatings, bioe ngin eeri ng (con trolled ripe nin g), and other tech niq ues reduc ing the deteriorati on of food products have helped shippers exte nd the rea

62、ch of perishable products. For food products such as fruits and vegetables, time has a direct impact on their shelf life and therefore on the pote ntial reve nue a con sig nment may gen erate. Con comita ntly, new tran sport tech no logies have permitted the shipme nt of perishable products over Ion

63、 ger dista nces. For in sta nee, improved roads and intermodal connections along the African coast reduced transport time for food to European markets from 10 days to 4 days.Certai n domestic or transn ati onal supply cha ins may only require one tran sportatio n mode, but many times ground shipme n

64、ts are one link in a comb in ati on of tran sport modes. This makes in termodal tran sfer critical for the cold cha in. In termodal shipme nts typically use either 20 or 40 footers refrigerated containers that are capable of holdi ng up to 26 tons of food. The container makes load ing and uni oad in

65、g periods shorter and less susceptible to experie ncing damage. The en vir onments in these containers are curre ntly con trolled electro ni cally by either plugg ing into a gen erator or power source on the ship or truck, but early food shipme nts would cycle air from stores of wet or dry ice to ke

66、ep the food refrigerated. The efficie ncy of cold chain logistics permitted the consolidation of cold storage facilities.Movi ng away from ice refrigerati on has allowed for much greater dista nces to be traveled and has greatly in creased the size of the global food market, en abli ng many develop ing coun tries to capture new opport un ities. Ano ther efficie nt mode for tran sport ing foo