Case Studies
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3 in 1 Duress Tag
The Protrac iD Duress series Tags are Ultra Long Range RFID tracking tags with an inbuilt membrane switch and indicator for manual call functions such as emergency call, nurse duress, and machinery stop.
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Refrigeration & Perishable Food Monitoring - Supermarket Food Temperature Monitoring
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"Comtrol and Protrac-iD have provided a system that is very adaptable and really easy to work with. The customer service from these companies is really exceptional." |
CDK Electronics Ltd supplies temperature alarm and monitoring systems to some of the worlds most well known supermarkets. To reduce costs and ensure accuracy for certain cool cabinets and freezers Comtrol and Protrac iD devised a scheme for remote temperature measurement. After a successful pilot scheme for a large supermarket chain the system is to be rolled out across 300+ stores in the UK.
Many large supermarkets face the problem of accurately monitoring refrigeration and freezer temperatures. This is vital for the safety of the food buying public. Historically stores have relied on staff to manually read temperature probes, thus allowing room for human error. This can then cause vast amounts of food waste and increase spend. Current guidelines state that refrigerators must be kept at 8ºC or below and freezers at -18ºC or below. It is imperative that shops, large and small, ensure food is kept at the required temperatures and methods for monitoring and control are addressed.
CDK Electronics Ltd has developed a system which can monitor and analyse temperature and energy consumption across the large fixed refrigerators and freezers using their Storescan Alarm and Monitoring system. However there are a number of freezer and refrigerator units, known as Integrals that cannot be easily linked back to the central panel and are usually monitored manually.
Comtrol and Protrac iD (a leading original design manufacturer of RFID tags and readers) worked together to provide a system that enabled temperature to be monitored remotely by placing a active RFID tag in the refrigerator/freezer that could measure temperature and transmit it every 20 seconds to a reader in the ceiling void. This reader was then connected by a Comtrol DeviceMaster-RTS 1 port unit to the supermarket’s LAN and on to the Storescan Alarm and Monitoring system.
Protrac iD modified one of its standard tags to measure temperature in upright closed refrigerators where the normal tags would not be very efficient. The temperature data from these tags were read in exactly the same way as the standard tags. Software developed by Comtrol was placed on the CDK Storescan Alarm and Monitoring Panel to convert the data to a form easily read by the Storescan system.
This case study is only one example of the work carried out at Comtrol to deliver cost effective communication solutions to customers' problems. If you need help in this complex field, make sure Comtrol is the first company you contact.
