Cold Supply Chain Processes in a Fruit-and-Vegetable

果蔬冷链

Cold Supply Chain Processes in a Fruit-and-Vegetable

Collaborative Network

M. Victoria de-la-Fuente and Lorenzo Ros

Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena, ETSII,

Campus Muralla del Mar, 30202 Cartagena, Spain

{marivi.fuente,lorenzo.ros}@upct.es

Abstract. The work presented in this paper focuses on the construction of a prototype for strategic design of nodes in a logistics network (PROCONET project). It incorporates the necessary concepts, models and supporting tools related to the design of the process flow and the choice of technology. The operation of the prototype will be validated with global supply chain processes for perishable products. Global supply chain processes will consider both full loads and groupages. Special attention will be given to the impact of INCOTERM agreements. The prototype will support intermodal logistics processes as an added value.

Keywords: Cold chain, Collaborative network, Perishable goods.

1 Introduction

In the last thirty years the fruit-and-vegetable sector has become the first Spanish agriculture sector in terms of production and export value. Driven by strong competition, this dynamic area must continuously incorporate new methods and technologies.

As such, an ongoing effort has to be made by agricultural companies to implement innovative measures which add value to the sector and make it capable of appropriately responding to consumers’ demands, of successfully facing competition and of maintaining leadership via new products and new forms of presenting them.

It is in this context of innovation and new technologies where the PROCONET Research Project is defined, initiated due to the need for improvements in logistics and transport of perishable goods (as discovered by the companies in this segment). A prototype of strategic storage nodes will be designed in a collaborative network framework, which facilitates the operation of the cold chain and transportation of products while ensuring traceability and food safety throughout the whole logistic process.

This paper is organized as follows: Section 2 presents a brief review of collaborative networks, their characteristics, their coordination of activities and the information mechanisms inside them. Section 3 deals with current issues in the Spanish fruit-and-vegetable sector. Section 4 discusses the objectives, the integration methodology and the framework for the fruit-and-vegetable collaborative network to Á. Ortiz Bas, R.D. Franco, P. Gómez Gasquet (Eds.): BASYS 2010, IFIP AICT 322, pp. 3–10, 2010. © IFIP International Federation for Information Processing 2010