ABSTRACT Supply chain processes are essential for managing the distribution of goods from suppliers to consumers. In light of the globalization of the economy, the distances involved in delivery have significantly increased, often spanning thousands of kilometers across various countries and continents, utilizing multiple modes of transportation, including land, maritime, and air. The primary objective of the supply chain process is to ensure the quality and safety of goods during transit, thereby mitigating the risks of damage, deterioration, and spoilage. This requires real‐time monitoring of various environmental conditions, such as temperature and humidity, to which goods are subjected. This paper tackles the critical challenge of monitoring real‐time conditions in goods transportation by innovatively designing and implementing an Internet of Things (IoT) system, together with a set of customized evaluation metrics. Unlike conventional approaches, our work introduces a practical and scalable prototype that takes advantage of readily available low‐cost technologies: temperature and light sensors integrated with a Raspberry Pi. This device continuously collects and transmits environmental data to a database server. Metrics will be defined to evaluate the quality of the goods. In addition, a dedicated web application will be developed that enables the complete analysis and visualization of the collected data. By establishing a quantifiable framework and providing a cost‐effective end‐to‐end monitoring solution, our study fills a significant gap in the current cold chain logistics landscape.
Zeng et al. (Sun,) studied this question.