Digi Honeycomb Solution Features Bluetooth Wireless Food Probe; Combines Hardware, Software and Services to Help Adhere to Food Safety Standards, Reduce Labour Costs and Minimize Shrinkage
MINNETONKA, Minn., May 3, 2016 – Digi International® a leading global provider of mission-critical machine-to-machine (M2M) and IoT connectivity products and services, today introduced Digi Honeycomb, an easy to deploy, reliable and cost effective service that continuously and wirelessly monitors the temperature of perishable goods, alerting users if the proper temperature is not maintained. With Digi Honeycomb, restaurants, grocers, convenience stores, warehouses and transportation companies can now prevent spoilage and loss, lower labour costs, and comply with public health requirements and food safety regulations.
A subscription-based service, Digi Honeycomb is comprised of hand-held probes, wireless sensors, gateways and software that allow temperature data to be monitored, logged, and retrieved, and be easily integrated into back-office systems. In delivering a complete solution that encompasses front-of-house and back-of-house environments, Digi Honeycomb allows organizations in the perishable food industry to address major challenges including, food safety, chain-of-custody verification, loss prevention (shrinkage), proof of compliance, and labour costs.
“Our customers in the food service industry have their own set of unique challenges that span operational and food safety requirements,” said Kevin C. Riley, chief operating officer, Digi International. “We have created a highly automated service that allows organizations to address the day-to-day issues of maintaining food quality and safety while lowering costs and achieving overarching goals of high customer satisfaction and brand reputation.”
Peace of Mind through Automated Oversight
Digi Honeycomb is an NSF certified and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) traceable solution that continuously, wirelessly and automatically monitors the temperature of food to allow food service organizations to adhere to performance thresholds and inspect individual systems. Automatic alerts can be set for all types of temperatures (frozen, refrigerated, ambient, hot-holding) and to issue alerts whenever temperature exceptions occur. A flexible solution, Digi Honeycomb is comprised of Bluetooth enabled hand-held probes, small wireless sensors, wireless gateways, and applications.
– Honeycomb Probe and Temperature Application: Unlike most probes that simply allow users to read current temperature, the Honeycomb probe works in conjunction with the Honeycomb temperature application to dramatically simplify the process of probing and monitoring the temperature of food items. With interchangeable probe tips for measuring a wide range of temperature applications, the Honeycomb probe is a wireless, food-grade device automatically activated by a change in temperature. Temperatures gathered with the Honeycomb probe are wirelessly delivered to the Honeycomb temperature application, typically installed on an Android or iOS tablet. The temperature application guides employees through the step-by-step process of probing, approving and submitting data to the Honeycomb solution. The application contains all food items needing to be probed and allows the user to log corrective actions for products outside of acceptable temperature range.
– Honeycomb Sensors: Sensors can be installed in a variety of front-of-house and back-of-house equipment such as walk-in refrigerators and freezers, under counter coolers, showcase units and sandwich lines. In addition to temperature monitoring, the solution can be designed to identify when door exceptions and potential equipment failure (e.g., stuck in defrost cycle) occurs.
– Honeycomb Gateway: Installed in front-of-house and back-of-house locations, the Honeycomb gateway collects and uploads all temperature data to the Honeycomb solution for processing, eliminating the need for staff to manually record or enter temperatures into a computer at a later time. This data is then accessible by the Honeycomb application on a mobile device or laptop or for integrating into back-office systems.
– Honeycomb Application: A dashboard application for managers to monitor and review the temperatures of all refrigeration equipment, the application provides alerts and warnings of equipment irregularities and temperature analytics for all store equipment containing Honeycomb sensors. Accessible via mobile device or PC, Digi Honeycomb can provide a variety of reports and views. Organizations can easily produce process-based compliance reports for documentation to be accessible during regulatory inspections, recover historical temperatures that occurred during power outages, and view the summary status of groups of devices.
Digi Cold Chain solutions consulting staff employ a three-step approach to ensure a successful implementation. First, Digi conducts a site survey and completes hardware and software installation. Secondly, organizations receive usability training and Digi confirms monitoring and report requirements. Finally, Digi works collaboratively to ensure ROI goals are being met.
Digi Honeycomb is available in a variety of subscription-based models for retail Quick Service Restaurant (QSR), Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) and NIST environments, and requires no capital expense. Hardware and software is included as part of the subscription with information hosted on servers managed by Digi International. For more information visit: http://www.digi.com/cold-chain-solutions.
