Agro-food logistics, the revolution starts with sensors

In the agri-food sector, logistics represent one of the most critical and opaque links in the supply chain. Problems with transport, storage and traceability not only compromise product quality, but also contribute to food waste. According to the FAO, up to 13% of food is lost before it even reaches the shelves, often due to broken cold chains, inadequate packaging or lack of coordination between the various actors.

The Disco project, coordinated by the University of Bologna within the Spoke 02 of the OnFoods project, tackles these issues in an innovative way, developing a framework based on digital and physical twins for the control and optimisation of waste in the food supply chain. "The project attempts to mix the main stress factors that perishable products undergo during trade routes, from storage to the final consumer's table," explains Michele Ronzoni, a researcher at the University of Bologna's Department of Industrial Engineering working on the project, which is part of the Food Supply Chain Centre directed by Professor Riccardo Manzini. "The three factors that influence the quality and remaining useful life of products are temperature, humidity and vibration. Our objective is to simulate their combined effect in a controlled environment and with a data-driven approach that faithfully reconstructs real or realistic profiles of physical-environmental stresses experienced by a load unit in its hierarchy of primary packaging, directly in contact with food, and secondary packaging".

At the heart of the project is a mechatronic system that will be operational by October: a simulator that integrates a vibrating platform, capable of replicating vibrations and shocks suffered by a loading unit, with a climatic chamber designed to track temperature and humidity at the same time as the vibrations. 'Thanks to this technology, we can assess the real impact of stresses attributable to logistics and transport on the organoleptic, sensory and chemical-physical quality of products,' Ronzoni continues, 'estimate the actual damage and monitor safety, quality, and environmental impact throughout the supply chain.

A key aspect concerns the choice of packaging. "Changing a cassette means changing the flows of the entire supply chain. Our simulator allows us to test the current configurations and assess how packaging choices, also with a view to reducing disposable plastic, affect product quality and the environment," Ronzoni emphasises. Initial results confirm that reusable packaging, such as Ppc (Reusable Plastic Container) crates, ensure greater unit load stability and reduce packaging waste, which accounts for about 45% of the total emissions of the food chain.

The Disco project is not limited to stress monitoring, but through their replication in a simulated and controlled environment aims to provide practical solutions for waste reduction. "It will also be interesting to study compostable packaging under extreme conditions, to test its real-world effectiveness," Ronzoni concludes.