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Logistics & Supply Chain vocabulary · Supply Chain Management

Cold chain

Meaning in logistics & supply chain, with examples

nounCommon term

In logistics & supply chain, cold chain means: A supply chain that keeps temperature-sensitive products, such as food, vaccines and medicines, within a set temperature range from production to the end user.

In Turkish: soğuk zincir

How it is used

Needs refrigerated trucks and containers (reefers), temperature-controlled warehouses and data loggers that record the temperature. A 'break in the cold chain' can make products unsafe or unusable. Common ranges are chilled (2–8 °C) and frozen (minus 18 °C or colder).

Example sentences

  1. The data logger showed the cold chain was broken for six hours, so the batch was rejected.

  2. We are building a new cold chain warehouse for our pharmaceutical customers.

Common collocations

  • cold chain logistics
  • break in the cold chain
  • maintain the cold chain
  • cold chain storage
  • FIFOShort for first in, first out: a rule that the oldest stock is used, picked or sold first, which reduces the risk of products ageing or expiring.
  • warehouseA large building where goods, materials or products are received, stored and prepared for shipment.
  • containerA large steel box of standard size used to carry goods by ship, train and truck without unloading them when they move from one vehicle to another.
  • road freightThe transport of goods by trucks and trailers on roads, used for domestic deliveries and for international routes over land.
  • visibilityThe ability to see where goods, orders and stock are at any moment along the supply chain, usually through shared real-time data.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Supply Chain Management

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