Eden, an intelligent quality management system, is being utilised within the Walmart supply chains. The system helps to reduce waste and improve the quality of fresh product. By using the machine learning and temperature monitors, the quality management system can help in the estimation of the products’ shelf-life.
With the help of Eden, Walmart could possibly save $2 billion over the next five years. All of this is possible with the amount of reduced food waste. The company has already saved $86 million with the implementation of Eden at its distribution centers since January 2017. Vice president of Walmart Labs’ Supply Chain Technology Engineering, Parvez Musani, stated that Walmart has always been searching for better technologies to provide high-quality customer service.
Optimal routing and rotation of fresh produce are enabled through the decisions made based on the freshness of the products; leading to a reduction of waste and enhanced quality.
Verigo’s Pod Quality system on the other hand constantly converts monitored temperature data into actionable freshness scores of produce in transit. Raw sensor data is converted into Product Life – a single, actionable metric – by the Pod’s Quality Analysis engine. The Product Life translates the analysis of a number of variables such as the product temperature, into the number of days left of the product’s shelf-life.
The ability to analyse, record, and communicate temperature and remaining Product Life, allows the pallets to transfer the data to any devices within 15 meters. The data of the product such as its quality which is automatically sent to the Verigo Cloud platform can be obtained through the Verigo mobile app.
To receive real-time quality metric, the staff needs to select a Product Life Model, input the initial quality of the product, and continuously monitor it. Chief Executive Officer of Verigo, Adam Kinsey, mentioned the Pod Quality can “change” the management of the quality and offers “unprecedented” quality to consumers.
The Pod Quality can help growers to take the quickest response to any situations. For instance, if packing operations are degrading shelf-life, it gives them the time to respond quickly and take a proper action. Wholesalers and receivers can also benefit with the Pod Quality in terms of minimising rejections and product evaluation respectively.
The inventions of both Eden and Pod Quality not only provide consumers with fresh products, but it also enhances the efficiency of the whole supply chain process.