KPI Integrated Solutions and Phononic form a strategic partnership to answer the demand for cold chain solutions for North American grocery retail and food industries
BELTON, Mo. and DURHAM, N.C.– KPI Integrated Solutions (KPI), a leading supply chain consulting, software, systems integration, and automation supplier and Phononic, the global leader in solid state cooling technology, today announced a partnership to provide sustainable cold chain solutions that serve the retail grocery and food industries. Combining KPI’s warehouse operations design expertise with Phononic’s sustainable Actively-Cooled Tote technology, the two companies have partnered to develop and integrate scalable solutions to maintain cold chain integrity and traceability through all phases of the distribution process. KPI’s innovative automation designs will now be able to utilize Phononic’s sustainable Actively-Cooled Totes for cold chain applications, from the warehouse to the curb.
The approach enables grocery retailers and food companies the ability to deploy automated, temperature-controlled solutions in an existing footprint, avoiding large upfront capital costs while drastically lowering operating labor and maintenance costs. It also greatly improves the overall employee experience by addressing one of the largest contributors to labor attrition in grocery retail: the need to work within frozen environments. This solution provides employees a much more comfortable workspace by avoiding the demand for work in such spaces. Additionally, Phononic’s solid state cooling and refrigeration innovation uses a safe and sustainable refrigerant: H2O mixed with naturally available CO2, featuring a Global Warming Potential (GWP) of just 1 or less. This approach produces the safest and lowest GWP rating in the industry compared to other commonly used refrigerants that contribute to climate change.
“This strategic partnership with Phononic will deliver a strong return on investment for our clients who are looking to quickly and flexibly provide cold storage and order fulfillment capability that is unconstrained by cooling and freezer needs,” said Jim Kuecker, Chief Commercial Officer at KPI.
“Joining forces with Phononic allows us to continue designing and providing the most critical end-to-end solutions for grocery retail, now with a sustainable cold chain solution.”
“Phononic is proud to partner with industry leaders such as KPI to bring scalable and sustainable solutions to grocery ecommerce,” said Dana Krug, SVP, Cold Chain Fulfillment at Phononic.
“KPI’s innovative and versatile cold storage designs can scale from larger grocery delivery operations to smaller-scale food storage – without the need for investment in full-size refrigerators or freezers which are much less efficient, costly, and harmful to the environment. As grocery ecommerce continues to explode, KPI and Phononic together deliver an innovative, proven, and sustainable solution for cooling.”
About KPI Integrated Solutions:
KPI partners with our clients to design and implement a full range of customized supply chain solutions that elevate distribution performance, provide competitive advantage, and enable growth. Our data-driven, technology-agnostic approach to automated solutions transforms operations to boost fulfillment speed, reduce reliance on labor, and improve agility. KPI’s services include strategic network analysis and consulting, operations evaluation, simulation and modeling, facility layout and slotting, materials handling system evaluation, design and implementation, Warehouse Execution Software (WES), and system lifetime services. For more information on the company, visit: https://kpisolutions.
About Phononic:
As the global leader in solid state cooling technology, Phononic is driving the world to a more sustainable way to cool. Its transformational technology reduces greenhouse gas (GhG) emissions and supports climate goals, while meeting the demanding performance needs of the market. The company’s thermoelectric devices and integrated products are mission critical to how people work and communicate; how automobiles ‘see’; to the protection and effective delivery of life-saving vaccines and drugs; to cooling solutions supporting grocery e-commerce; and to innovative methods that cool living and work spaces. For more information on the company, visit: https://phononic.com/
