The Publication For The Grocery Trade

IKEA Edmonton installs Digitrak RF

New Wireless Food Temperature Monitoring System from Digitron IKEA Edmonton has installed the DigiTrak RF Wireless Food Temperature Monitoring System in its food storage areas. This automatically provides consistent 24/7 paperless temperature monitoring at regular intervals - assembling the results into paperless reports for verification, analysis, risk assessment and archiving. Temperatures at any point can be viewed from any computer on the network and data is updated every fifteen minutes. "Being wireless made installation fast, simple and inexpensive", says Sandie Sibra, Edmonton’s Deputy Food Service Manager. "We can position our remote temperature transmitters anywhere and change our layout in minutes - without the cost and inconvenience of cabling. Our wireless temperature transmitters are at various monitoring points in the bistro, café, main customer restaurant, staff restaurant and the Sweden Shop. Eliminating manual temperature recording has made big savings; it saves staff from a boring task and improves reliability." The transmitters can measure temperatures ranging from -30C to +93C (-20F to +200F). Within this range, the user presets appropriate monitoring parameters. These transmitters, each operated by a long-life battery, and positioned in, at or near perishable foods or equipment, transmit data wirelessly to the base station which is mounted centrally and transfers data to the DigiTrak RF computer to which it’s connected. When a temperature falls outside the parameters, it activates an alert. DigiTrak can also deliver other savings. Power needs can be reduced substantially by employing door contact sensors to alert users to prolonged door openings. Preventing temperature rise and the burden on the compressor before it happens extends equipment life. Engineers can monitor refrigerator performance and be alerted to abnormal defrost cycles, enabling preventative maintenance before breakdown. Energy savings of 1-2% over a year for a medium sized food business can pay for the system in less than a year. The Edmonton installation can provide the ability to collect and process even more information, including data for cleaning schedules, inventory control, temperature probing of foodstuffs on arrival at the site and ad hoc procedures. The system conforms fully with EC 852/2004 and provides an effective route to ISO:22000. DigiTrak RF also assists HACCP compliance. Data collected automatically can be written manually into a HACCP plan - with HaccpWorks software online it enables seamless electronic data transfer to the appropriate fields in the haccp plan - a solution developed jointly by HaccpWorks and Digitron. DigiTrak PDA is a temperature acquisition system which enables mobile data collection for managing cleaning schedules, inventory management and contact temperatures. DigiTrak Mobile allows integration of data from mobile miniature data loggers for monitoring temperatures during transportation. When refrigerator doors are left open briefly, DigiTrak RF can employ an appropriate delay - preventing unnecessary alerts. DigiTrak RF allows multi user access from multiple sites, enabling anyone with an Internet browser on a network to access information using their ID and password. Further information from Digitron, Tel 01803 407865, Katey McDonald, info@digitron.co.uk www.digitrakrf.com