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Emerson Debuts Programmable USB Data Loggers for Product Tracking and Monitoring

August 26, 2021 by Seth Price

What are data loggers and why are they a crucial part of food and beverage manufacturing?

Certain foods such as meat, vegetables, fruits, and dairy products are susceptible to heat and humidity-related damage. These losses can be minimized through proper instrumentation during transportation and shipping. These food and beverage items must reach the facility in good condition to be packaged appropriately and shipped.

 

An engineer from Emerson working on a control system in a food and beverage facility. Image used courtesy of Emerson

 

To address this issue, Emerson has developed data logging devices for tracking temperature and humidity in food and beverage manufacturing.  

 

The USB Data Logging Series 

The GO USB Logger suite of products are uniquely designed to keep track of conditions for perishable goods during transit. Emerson developed this product to address some challenges engineers face with instrumentation. There are three new models of these data logging devices available. These devices are the GO USB Temp, GO USB Humidity, and GO USB Probe, all of which are similar in capabilities and operations. 

“The Go USB Logger suite of products are easily configurable via software to meet the user’s unique cold chain measurement needs,” mentioned Alex Axelsson, Product Manager for Emerson’s Cold Chain Business. All three modules use the same software package and can be used for any or all three modules.

 

Emerson GO USB Temp. Image used courtesy of Emerson

 

The USB loggers can record mean kinetic temperature, high/low/mean temperatures, and alerts. They also have a built-in liquid crystal display (LCD). Users can review this data on the LCD or in a PDF file generated by the pairing software, automatically generated when the logger is plugged into the computer. 

The three models can be used together or separately using the same software. The GO USB Temp is used to measure temperature, and the GO USB Humidity measures relative humidity. The GO USB Probe module can monitor ambient temperatures and find the temperature in a specific region. The probe itself can be detached and used as a stand-alone sensor as well.

 

Transporting Goods in Specific Environments 

For example, suppose you need to transport goods that require a cool environment, and you need to ensure that these goods will remain at the proper temperature during the transfer. While there may be adequate monitoring in the coolers at both the production facility and the receiving dock at the destination, it might be unclear how those products were kept cold while en route. 

If certain food such as dairy products are not closely monitored, they can create bacteria that causes many problems. The USB Data Logging Series would catch each of these problems or mitigate them in the first place using the data management portion of the product. 

 

Goods being transported on a conveyor belt in a food and beverage manufacturing facility. 

 

This data can generate a complete audit trail to prove that the temperature and humidity remained within limits required by the specific product. The end-user can download the data to verify the freshness or the safety of the product. 

These data loggers are generating verification data for cold cargo from start to finish during transit. Emerson has added various security features and peace of mind for all users who must sign off that they received goods distributed to the general public. With the Emerson USB Data Loggers, one may more confidently verify that cold cargo has been kept within specifications. 

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