INVESTMENTS IN SMART NANO-CONTROL SYSTEMS IN COLD SUPPLY CHAINS David Bogataj, Marija Bogataj , Damjana Drobne , Lorenzo Ros-McDonnell , Rebeka Rudolf and Domen Hudoklin MEDIFAS-CERRISK , University of Ljubljana, Technical University Cartagena, University of Maribor

Abstract Fruit and Vegetable Supply Chain Management (F&V SCM) requires more intelligent technology to improve postharvest loss prevention; however, the current technology has to be improved to reduce the lead times and perishability dynamics in an intelligent F&V supply chain. This can be achieved by developing a more accurate environmental monitoring using advanced measurement techniques and by introducing new gold nanoparticle sensors (Au-NP-sensors) which would allow direct sensing of rotting or decaying. This paper presents the possibility how to measure the impact of these technologies on the management of fruit and vegetable supply chains, i.e. from packaging, warehousing to fruit and vegetable distribution, and thus improving the supply chain safety by tracking and tracing cargo and its environment. The evaluation of these new technologies is proposed through the Net Present Value approach of extended MRP models.

F&V SC The fruit and vegetable supply chain (F&V SC) encompasses all the activities involved in the sourcing and procurement of fruit and vegetables to the final customer (fresh and processed goods: transferred and transformed). -planning, -management and control of such systems, -redirected to the final consumer or disposed at a land-field or for secondary energy production To enable safe transfer through a distribution system, automation can improve F&V SC visibility and efficiency and thus yield higher added value.

F&V SC Contemporary technological solutions include wireless sensor networks (WSNs), which have great impact on the added values in F&V SCM. A WSN is a wireless network consisting of small, spatially allocated devices in a supply network where many scattered sensors are controlling environmental and physical conditions where the cargo is exposed to perishability. They measure humidity, temperature, vibration and pressure, (correlation with perishability dynamics - forecasting) and how a cargo is transported, changing location and quality. As Yonzon et al. mentioned (2005), through the use of smart devices possessing multiple micro-sensors deployed in large numbers over wide areas covered by supply networks, an unprecedented capability exists for monitoring, tracking, and controlling F&V packages, pallets or individual items as cargo in transportation or warehousing.

Nanotechnology Nanotechnology is the creation and use of materials or devices at 1 to 100 nanometer (nm) scale. At these dimensions, materials exhibit different physical properties and behaviours not observed at the microscopic level. In the agriculture and food sector the application of nanotechnology-based products is relatively recent and unrevealed compared with their use in other fields. At present, two major applications related to nanotechnology are being expected, which are -food nanosensing and -food and packaging nanostructured ingredients. In controlling environment conditions, nanosensors could measure physico-mechanical properties. Although sensors have a long history, the realm of nanosensors is relatively new (Lima and Ramakrishna 2006, Gruere, 2012).

Scanning image of Au NPs (left) obtained in an ultrasonic generator

Nanosensors In general, nanosensors convey information about nanoparticles to the macro-world like supply chains. They can be attached to -containers, -pallets and -individual items in cargo to function as an active transport tracking devices. As such they can actively -monitor the fruit and vegetable transportation and warehousing process, - control and verify the handling conditions of cargo, like temperature or humidity of fresh food and trigger feedback actions.

Floating point in MRP Theory The aim of this presentation is to describe the potential for developing Au nanosensors (or competed graphen NP*), and consider their applicability in the postharvest loss prevention in F&V SCM. We shall also show how the precise monitoring and earlier detection of changes in cargo can influence the manipulation with cargo and reduce the perishability dynamics, influencing an increase of the Net Present Value of logistics in SC by introduction of floating point in MRP Theory. * Detection of poison in military purposes.

AU NANOPARTICLES IN NANOSENSORS Nanostructure-engineered chemical sensors could be applied to detect gas and vapour in storage containers or environments. Due to the large surface area, low surface energy barrier and high thermal and mechanical stability, nanostructured sensors potentially can offer higher sensitivity, lower power consumption and better robustness than the state-of-the-art systems, which make them more attractive for a variety of applications. Due to their excellent characteristics like biocompatibility, conductivity, catalytic properties, high surface-to-volume ratio and high-density, Au-NPs have attracted a lot of attention in designing (bio)nanosensors Several methods have been described in the literature for the synthesis of Au-NPs of various sizes and shapes. One limitation in using nanomaterial-based products is in the limited possibility to be synthesized in sufficient amounts and pure, i.e. industrial synthesis. The major challenge, and the reason why beneficial properties of Au-NPs have not been introduced to nanosensors up to now, is the high-cost and large batch-to-batch variations in Au-NP production by standard procedures, indicating that commercially available methods for the production of Au-NPs are not sustainable for their large-scale application.

Why Au NPs An important advantage of using gold and not other NPs in nanosensors is the possibility to functionalize the Au NPs with a broad variety of biomolecules, which is important for standardization and mass production of nanosensors as part of smart devices for SC control of perishable goods in general and F&V in particular.

Internet of Things (IoT) Food losses can be forecast through a combination of Au-nanosensors, humidity and temperature sensors embedded in the smart device, developed and installed in trucks and warehouses. Internet of Things (IoT) enables intelligent control and management of F&V SC. IoT might allow us to enhance F&V SC, data and things via devices and sensors. Fruits and vegetables are handled and transferred between farmers and suppliers, distribution centres, the retailer and the final customer. In flexible collaborative supply chains, the destination nodes can change rapidly. These many nodes in the supply chain require agile and informed F&V SC. Key to fruit and vegetable in-transit visibility are cloud-based GIS, including GPS, smart measurement devices linked to different sensors, such as bionanosensors, temperature and humidity sensors, which provide the identity, location, quality of cargo, ambient and other tracking information. These are the backbone of the IoT as it relates to the supply chain. With the data gathered by smart technologies, a detailed visibility of cargo is provided all the way from the fruit and vegetable producer to the final user.

The scheme of a CSC decision support system

IoT enabling the transfer of important data onto the cloud Data gathered from GIS and smart devices based on sensor technologies allow supply chain professionals to automate shipping and delivery by exactly predicting the dynamics; they can monitor the perishability of cargo and ambient control which impact the quality of fruit and vegetable cargo in-transit. IoT brings all of these tools together by putting a smart measurement device in a trailer and combines them in an integrated device, enabling the transfer of important data onto the cloud, with the devices being able to identify the cargo regarding position, quality, temperature and humidity conditions, as well as traffic and the driving pattern influencing lead time in a supply chain. This allows the stakeholders to make efficient decisions that influence the sustainability of F&V SC.

By enabling devices to communicate as required, IoT can help supply chain professionals: ensure temperature and humidity stable and adaptive; reduce postharvest loss; save on fuel costs by optimizing the routes regarding traffic and the perishability of cargo, and create fleet efficiency; monitor and optimally replenish the inventory in warehouses, and enable user insight in the quality of food. In general, this technology can reduce time delays in decision-making and actions in the SCM.

EXTENDED MRP MODEL OF COLD SUPPLY CHAIN WITH EMBEDDED NANOSENSORS AND FEEDBACK CONTROL Going through all these activities in the development of smart devices and their decision support systems of CSC we can conclude that the smart CSC management and control involves the transportation, warehousing, packaging, loading and unloading of temperature sensitive products along a SC under thermal and humidity control, knowing the correlation between temperature dynamics, humidity and perishability to protect the integrity of these shipments and to improve the NPV of all activities involved. The question arises, till when and how the cargo handling can be improved in order to mitigate the postharvest loss? What should be the conditions and restrictions of a dynamic system management so that the final consumer’s need for healthy food will be met?

We shall use the input–output approach in packaging, warehousing and transportation formalization of a supply chain. For a certain time unit we can write:

Lead times in activity cells including delays of information in floating points is written by .

Condense form: k=1,2,…,n ,

Using Laplace transforms: The appropriate criterion function could be the net present value of the system described by