New Active Cooling Solution Platform Meets E-Grocery Fulfillment Demand

Solid-state cooling tech provider Phononic has launched its Active Cooling Solutions (ACS) platform, a full-service sustainable solution to solve end-to-end cold-chain fulfillment needs for the grocery industry. Building on the recent success, learnings and proof points from more than 20 commercial installations, the company claims that its ACS platform allows retailers flexibility and scalability to meet the ever-changing needs of their business and the always-shifting behaviors of consumers.

“Today, there is a lack of an end-to-end cold-chain solution that is effective and provides flexibility, sustainability and cost advantages. Phononic’s ACS platform addresses this gap – providing on-demand cooling and freezing on order throughput, achieving unprecedented energy savings,” said Dana Krug, SVP at Durham, N.C.-based Phononic. “Our ‘State of Online Grocery Shopping’ annual report showed that 67% of retailers are planning to spend between $500,000 and $1.5 million on cold- chain technology and/or fulfillment this year. The ACS Connected Services platform is proven through retail and automation partnerships as the best solution for more precise and secure cooling and freezing from storage to curbside pickup to last mile, with critical traceability for retailers’ cold-chain fulfillment needs.”

[Read more: “How E-Grocers Are Setting the Pace of Change in Grocery”]

The ACS platform launch includes critical hardware, accessories, and data-driven services and support optimizing e-grocery fulfillment:

• ACS Actively Cooled Tote (ACT) 2000: for precise and secure cooling and freezing with such accessories as plug-in carts for optimized picking, staging and curbside pickup; vertically powered storage racks to minimize storage footprint; integration into robotics automation; Internet of Things data connectivity features; and turnkey installation and support.
• ACS Connected Services: provides real-time monitoring of temperature data, tote use and tote traceability, ensuring critical food safety and the highest food quality and maximum operational efficiency, alongside complete cold-chain documentation.
• ACS Last Mile: the first all-electric tri-temperature delivery vehicle, offering a sustainable and cost-effective way to store chilled, frozen and general merchandise all in one vehicle.
• ACS Cooling as a Service: a flexible and turnkey business model for retailers, robotics and last-mile providers, delivering cooling through a combination of hardware, software, and installation and support optimizing CAPEX and OPEX budget preferences.

Phononic has secured several partnerships to advance cold-chain fulfillment in grocery retail, including with stow Robotics, the warehouse automation business unit within Naperville, Ill.-based stow Group, and Belton, Mo.-based KPI Integrated Solutions, a supply chain consulting, software, systems integration and automation supplier.