Impact recorders are incredibly useful for revealing impact issues and catching concealed damage as inventory travels along the supply chain. They can also be useful for a wide range of other applications at any organization.

As freight travels from the warehouse to its eventual destination, the potential for sustaining shocks, mishandling, or receiving some sort of damage increases during transit. Between 2% – 11% of cargo arrives at destinations damaged from poor shipping, mishandling, impacts, or other issues along the way. The causes of impact damage can easily be placed in the category of mishandling; shifting weight, improper loading/unloading, incorrect-sized containers, and bad packaging are all ways of inflicting impact damage on cargo.

Constant monitoring of the loading and transportation of cargo isn’t easy, but using small devices called impact recorders can help you monitor for damage, pinpoint when it occurs, and make a plan for reducing problems in future shipments. Using these units help keep cargo safe, customers happy, and your reputation intact.

Here are few ways impact recorders—especially devices that incorporate cellular technology—can help you protect your inventory during transit.

Act on issues in real-time

Companies lose an estimated $50 billion per year from damaged cargo resulting from theft, supply chain interruption, and damage. It can happen to any company.

Imagine this scenario, for instance: the last time a company sent a shipment to their distribution center, a few of the boxes were damaged in transit. The goods are no longer usable and the organization had to take a rather significant loss on them. Believing it to be an isolated incident, the company failed to implement any protective or preventative measures. Then, it happened again. The second time around, more inventory was damaged, generating a bigger loss. Consistently losing money on damaged cargo isn’t good for any business, so paying special attention to shipping is essential. Packing containers properly, using the right container, and monitoring damage in real-time are all superb solutions to this issue. Impact recorders are especially useful for the latter. Some require a satellite or line-of-sight for updating data, but newer devices can operate via a cellular network, just like a smartphone or other smart device.

By using a cellular-based recorder, you can take advantage of live tracking and monitoring through cloud services and the internet. Such devices integrate with a web portal where users can track and evaluate information as it’s provided by the unit, providing the data right at your fingertips.

Temperature monitoring

Impacts and shocks can lead to damaged shipments, but temperature abuse is another big contributor to damaged goods. Bakeries, grocery stores, and restaurants rely on supply transportation every day. As such, they can all benefit from implementing cellular recorders into their shipments.

In cases where the temperature is expected to fluctuate wildly, the recorder can still operate within a wide range of temperatures (typically between -40 – 175 degrees Fahrenheit). The recorder can readily provide insight into potential temperature issues involving your shipments.

The recorder stores its environment’s temperature with the data transfers back to the user. This can provide keen insight into any temperature issues on top of reporting impact/shock issues.

Access detailed trip data

Another incredible innovation of some impact recorders is the extreme detail of the data they collect and provide to users. Cellular-based recorders provide constant access to this data so you can analyze it and make decisions 24/7. Among the many details, it records our temperature overtime, impact severity and history, g force level, and impact direction.

Consider implementing a cellular impact recorder to save time, money, and energy as you manage your supply chain. You’ll spend significantly less time filling out damage claim forms or dealing with the aftermath of a lost/damaged shipment and more time building rapport with your customers through flawless shipping procedures.

Customize your recorders

Cellular impact recorders are a marvel of modern shock detection technology. They’re also customizable. Users can specify the impact and temperature settings they want to monitor in the unit. the device does the rest. Throughout the course of the trip, it will compile data based on the user’s parameters. At the end of the trip, users get a PDF or CSV file of any alarm or issue the recorder detected throughout the journey.

Users can customize download settings and reports with associated software.

Use a VPN

With feature-rich technology in common use these days, the need for protective measures increases. Using a VPN (Virtual Private Network) is essential in most online applications today and serves a similar purpose in cellular technology.

Integrating a VPN with an impact recorder helps prevent the use of a cell network from costing your business a fortune in roaming or other fees. It’s also a fantastic way to guard the network while keeping it fast and private. Most impact recorder manufacturers and industry leaders offer their own proprietary VPN for their product, so be sure to do plenty of research when selecting your cellular impact recorders and shock management devices now and into the future.