Maersk Line will launch its Remote Container Management service on July 24, 2017, providing customers with visibility of a refrigerated container’s location, temperature and atmospheric conditions during transit.

According to Maersk, RCM experts will also manage the container remotely or through notifications to local technicians if a hands-on fix is required.

“RCM has the capabilities that our customers have wanted from us for a very long time,” said Vincent Clerc, chief commercial officer of Maersk Line. “It is going to insert an unprecedented level of visibility and reliability into their supply chains that will make their business better. The old days of waiting, hoping and reacting are over. Our customers can now monitor and make decisions about their supply chain as their cargo moves, as well as use the data to study and improve their entire supply chain. Particularly for our customers with very sensitive, higher value refrigerated cargo, RCM significantly raises the total value proposition of refrigerated container trade.”

Each of Maersk’s 270,000 reefers contains GPS technology, a modem and a SIM card, enabling location, temperature, humidity and power status readings to be continuously collected and stored. That information is transmitted by satellites on 400 of Maersk Line’s owned and chartered vessels to customers and RCM global support teams.

If the container malfunctions and local technicians are unable to fix it, RCM’s automatic notifications will give customers time to notify their affected customers and plan alternatives such as unloading the container at an earlier port for a discounted sale.

In the first six months of 2017, RCM has already identified more than 4,500 incorrect temperature settings on customers’ reefers.

“Our customers have always wanted to know where their products are and if they are being properly cared for from the very beginning to when their customer receives them,” said Anne Sophie Zerlang, head of reefers at Maersk Line. “Now with RCM, they will always know. We expect we will see an increase in our traditional perishable reefer volumes like agriculture as a result of RCM, but also new opportunities in sectors like pharmaceuticals where there is also a need for the kind of supply chain integrity RCM provides. As we receive feedback and learn more from our customers, we will look for ways to improve and expand the value of RCM.”