Alaska's Hot and Cold Chain Solutions

Alaskan meat shipment arrives in TEDSBOX

2010-02-11T17:25:00.000-08:00

Anchorage, AK-(Feb. 11, 2010) It may be no surprise to those who know about the temperature controlled TEDSBOX from Tednologies, Inc., that a successful Jan. 21, shipment of meat was received in premium condition recently.

The success of the TEDSBOX in shipping fresh beef and pork from Alaska based Tanana Valley Meat to Alaska Meat & Grocery in Haines was a new experience for the shipper and receiver. This shipment was such a big deal to both that the Alaska of Department of Natural Resources issued a press release about it.

The shipment is also a ‘HUGE’ deal for Tednologies, Inc. who manufactures and developed the LD3 style shipping container. This marks official recognition that using their temperature controlled container ensures freshness of shipped perishable goods.

TEDSBOX marketing manager Ian Wilson loaded the sides of beef and pork in their temperature controlled container, and Ken Hall with Lynden, arranged for shipment of the product to the grocery store in Haines, Alaska.

“We were able to place RFID tags in the shipment to show the temperatures throughout the time the shipment was in transit,” said Don Harman, of Tednologies, Inc. in fact the meat was kept at or below the temperature throughout the whole shipment to Haines.

In looking at the RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tag graphs after the shipment was delivered the only anomaly in the temperature was when the doors of the container were opened by the grocery store to unload their shipment.

“This just proves that our container once again meets and exceeds the demands by shippers, receivers and the food industry both here in Alaska and the U.S.,” said Ian Wilson, marketing manager for Tednologies, Inc.

This shipment opens up new possibilities for Tanana Valley Meats and grocery stores statewide who either receive shipments from the Lower-48, or by risky USPS bypass mail.

The Alaska Division of Agriculture assisted in the shipment, according to Patricia O’Neil with the Alaska Division of Agriculture--by making connections between Alaska Meat & Grocery and Tanana Valley Meats--and finding a company who ships to Haines.

No surprise to those in the Alaskan Bush fresh produce is “King”

2010-01-26T23:42:00.000-08:00

No surprise to those in the Alaskan Bush fresh produce is “King”

ANCHORAGE, ALASKA-(Jan. 26, 2010)—For those of you who know Alaska and have experienced the Alaska bush the following will not be a big surprise. To others it will be an eye opener about shipping perishables in Alaska.

In Rural Alaska there are no supermarkets, fast food restaurants, or quick stop grocery stores. In fact-- in most villages there is only one store, and it will probably be the only source of ammunition, fuel, soda pop and pampers, and usually a family owned mom and pop store. These village stores are not on a road system, a rail system and most are only accessed by aircraft and or seasonally by a barge.

So the revelation of Walter Williams of Dillingham was understandable when he saw the Tednologies, Inc. shipping containers that peaked his interested.

Here is the scene.

If you are lucky enough to live in a hub city like Bethel, Nome or Kotzebue you have additional options of a store owned by a Canadian company that has its roots in the Hudson Bay Company. But they too have their challenges bringing perishable foods to market that are palatable

Recently at the Alaska School Nutrition Conference at the Egan Center in Anchorage dozens of food vendors showed their wares, food products like pizza, pocket sandwiches, pasta dishes, and breakfast foods to school district food service buyers.

While most of these presentations were pre-processed foods, (with the exception of Taco-Loco who makes a fresh salmon burritos) the vendors offered packaged or reheated food.

Most of the buyers were looking for fresh foods, others were forced into a pattern of buying processed long shelf life food products due to the distance of their schools from urban locations. Several of the buyers were encouraged at the ability to get shipments from urban Alaska centers of fresh produce for their students but have had discouraging results.

“I would like to offer some apples, or oranges or something fresh for the kids at least one day a week,” said Walter Williams, a food service manager for the Southwest Region School District in Dillingham. “I just want the kids to have a solidly balanced diet.”

Williams tells a story of offering the local regional market the ability to give-back to the local Dillingham region by letting them order produce and piggy-back on their orders with an offer to pay any freight overages.

“I even offered to pay 50 percent of the order for apples or oranges, just to make sure that we could do this but they refused because of problems with bypass mail,” said Williams.”They didn’t want to order anything perishable because it is ruined sitting out on the ramp at the airport.”

Bypass mail is an order up to 1,000 pounds that is shipped from a warehouse wholesaler or retailer to the buyer that bypasses the US Post Office, shipped warehouse to receiver via air freight in Alaska by carriers that are qualified or ‘tendered’ to move these types of shipments.

Williams’s story is not unusual. In the summer months shipments sit on the ramp of airports waiting for pick-up in the heat of the day, in the winter it’s the same, but the shipments of lettuce, bananas, and apples sit on the ramp in frigid sometimes sub-zero conditions.

“We have the solution to this problem but we are having a tough time convincing the buyers to use our containers,” said Ian Wilson, marketing manager with Tednologies, Inc. “The problem is the buyers believe that the air carriers have these containers already. And the air carriers think that the buyers should buy the containers. If they don’t then it’s too bad let the shipment be spoiled.”

Williams looked over the azure blue containers on display at the Alaska School Nutrition Conference and decided to try forcing shipments in the containers to the Bristol Bay Community.

Tednologies, Inc. has various sized containers that can be used to successfully ship perishable items, have temperature controls and monitoring and are basically an indestructible container.

“If only they would use them once, the results speak for themselves”, said Wilson.

Tednologies, Inc. offers hot and cold shipping containers and has devised the only LD-3 container that can be used for up to five days on battery power for frozen or heated foods.

For more information contact sales@palletguy.net

Now is the season to fix broken shipping gear

2010-01-15T00:12:00.000-08:00

Now is the season to fix what's broken or overused!

ANCHORAGE, AK (January 15, 2010)--Winter is the time to prepare for the shipping rush coming next spring and summer. Construction and re-stocking for the next year as well as bypass mail will increase in what we here in Alaska call the “Denali Affect.”

The Denali Affect (named after 20,320 ft. Mt. McKinley) is a peak in air freight shipping and passenger travel here in Alaska that shows signs of increasing in the early shoulder season (late April) and peaks into Aug. then declines into flat traffic after mid October.

“During the winter time lull—we are can fix your nets or pallets or those broken down igloos that you have behind the hangar,” said Ian Wilson, marketing manager for Tednologies, Inc. a sister company to Harman’s Repair Station.

So now is the time to think about getting your pallets, vertical nets and horizontal nets repaired or replaced. Harman’s Repair is just the place to do just that.

Don Harman has worked hard to create a warehouse of parts and supplies as well as sewing equipment, cookie pallet and igloo repair equipment located right in the heart of Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport.

“We are an FAA Certified Part 145 repair station that can fix or repair your nets, igloos or shipping containers right here in Anchorage,” said Don Harman, president of Harman’s Repair Station.

Harman opened his business four years ago after 20-years of experience working in the commercial aviation business in Alaska and today offers expert repair to your shipping implements.

Another advantage using this company is their ability to use stronger and more fire retardant materials.

“We are now making cargo nets that are stronger and fire resistant to replace the original equipment, “Wilson said. “The nets can act as both a safety barrier for shifting loads and may act as a fire barrier during shipping. This is yet another safeguard to flight crews during shipping.”

Harman’s Repair Station is located at 3511 Postmark Dr. across from the FedEx Facility and behind the DHL sorting facility.

No need to panic in an emergency over food safety using Tednologies technology

2010-01-08T06:38:00.000-08:00

There is no need to panic over food safety using Tednologies technology!

Anchorage, AK--( Jan. 8, 2010)--The U.S. Food Safety Inspection Service has issued a special winter time warning about how to handle perishable foods during an emergency. While we here in Alaska may have the solution due to our cold wintertime temperatures there are other preventative measures availablel.
I recently interviewed Don Harman at Tednologies, Inc. and he showed me the full array of shipping containers that they have available for commercial use. Some of these have battery operated hot/cold temperature control devices built into them.
Yes, just plug them in to keep them charged-- they use less energy than a regular sized refrigerator. When the power goes off they can keep perishable foods cold down to 32F for up to five days.
While Harman thinks that the FSIS has some good information on how to prevent perishable foods from spoiling during a power outage his company offers viable solutions to thwart shipping and emergency food safety.

Here is what the FSIS offers:

ABCD’s of Keeping Food Safe in an Emergency

Always keep meat, poultry, fish, and eggs refrigerated at or below 40 °F and frozen food at or below 0 °F. This may be difficult when the power is out.

Keep the refrigerator and freezer doors closed as much as possible to maintain the cold temperature. The refrigerator will keep food safely cold for about 4 hours if it is unopened. A full freezer will hold the temperature for approximately 48 hours (24 hours if it is half full) if the door remains closed. Obtain dry or block ice to keep your refrigerator as cold as possible if the power is going to be out for a prolonged period of time. Fifty pounds of dry ice should hold an 18-cubic foot full freezer for 2 days. Plan ahead and know where dry ice and block ice can be purchased.

Alaska solution to storm related emergencies

2009-12-29T11:41:00.000-08:00

Alaska solution to storm related emergencies

ANCHORAGE, AK-(Dec. 29, 2009)—Today the Department of Agriculture is providing recommendations to those affected by winter storms in the Midwest, Western Great Lakes area, Mid-Atlantic and the South. They are warning that power outages may knock out refrigeration units that are holding perishable items.

While the Department of Agriculture is working to minimize the potential for food borne illnesses due to power outages and other problems that are often associated with severe weather events there is a solution that is being manufactured here in Alaska—the TEDSBOX an active temperature controlled cargo container.

Here in Alaska we face the same dilemma every fall, winter and spring with storms, and flooding. Most villages in Rural Alaska are located on either river drainages, or on the coast. Tednologies, Inc. has just the solution to the potential of frozen or perishable food borne illnesses—their TEDSBOX.

The active TEDSBOX models can store more cubic feet (25-105 cu/ft) of fresh or frozen goods and can do so at a sub freezing temperature for up to five-days on batteries. TEDSBOX uses rechargeable batteries and could be the perfect solution to a debilitating storm that strikes for days and leaves residents without electrical power.

“At least one of our units could be placed in every village in Alaska,” said Ian Wilson, marketing manager for Tednologies, Inc. located at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport. “The LD3 can be picked up with forklifts moved to an aircraft, flown to any village with an airport and off loaded with a forklift. It could then be plugged into the local power grid and kept full of perishable or frozen food. When the power goes out the TEDSBOX maintains temperature, hot or cold for up to five days.”

This time frame will give emergency responders time to fix knocked out power, and in the meantime food stored in the LD3 will remain fresh or frozen as desired.

A good old Alaskan solution to what could happen anywhere this winter-- or next-- here or on the East Coast of the U.S. or worldwide.

Tednologies Developes New Cargo Nets

2009-12-23T20:12:00.000-08:00

Alaska company develops new light weight cargo nets for Beechcraft 1900 aircraft

ANCHORAGE, AK-(Dec. 23, 2009)--My friends at Tednologies, Inc. have created something new for the air cargo industry—a barrier net that does not wear out. No not the Internet or computers linked together, but a cargo barrier net for the Beechcraft 1900 and 1900 C aircraft.

“This cargo net costs less, and lasts longer than other barrier nets on the market,” said Ian Wilson, marketing director at Tednologies.

The idea for the net improvement, came from Don Harman when he was repairing nets used by Frontier Alaska.

“These nets are not durable enough and I thought to myself, ‘I can make a better net than this.’ So I did,” said Harman.

After two-years of working with the local Anchorage MIDO (manufacturing inspection district office) Tednologies received a PMA (parts manufacturing approval) license to produce the cargo barrier nets for the 1900 and 1900 C Beechcraft.

“The nets actually will last three-times longer than anything else on the market today,” said Wilson.

The nets are important to the Alaska cargo industry as many of the Beechcraft 1900s and 1900 Cs are carrying both passengers and cargo under FAR Part 135. The spider web looking nets shaped to fit inside the fuselage act as a barrier, or bulkhead.

The Tednologies cargo nets are now available with no lead time and can be shipped for next day delivery.

Harman is in production sewing the nets to fill an order from a local airline while Santa Claus is delivering presents this week.