A cloud model for real-time fresh produce transportation management

Increasing consumer demand for variety, stringent national and international regulatory frameworks, and a large number of small and medium providers within the organic fresh produce industry has resulted in highly complex food supply chain networks. Complexity has resulted in a reduction in the transparency and testability of the supply chain network and increased food wastage during transportation. This paper proposes the adaption of a model called MOVIE (Model of Operations for Views and Intelligent Events) in the food industry and this, we argue, addresses such issues. The proposed real-time event controlled system incorporates the cloud and various messaging protocols to facilitate communication between the various stakeholders in the fresh produce industry. The model scrutinizes the physical and environmental characteristics pertaining to the transported fruit and vegetables using sensor systems by generating 'big data' that are analysed on a real-time basis. As such it effectively increases the traceability and testability of the product on a real-time basis and decreases wastage during the transportation process. Improved traceability has a positive influence on the perception of the quality and, in turn, improves consumer confidence. Via social media, consumers can directly receive and update information pertaining to product status. MOVIE analyses data in real-time, an improvement over existing systems that analyse archival data.