For third-party logistics providers, customer satisfaction is essential. Not meeting a customer's request can mean lost business. So when customers of the cold storage provider Daalimpex required real-time product tracking, the European company installed a computer system that could meet high expectations at extremely low temperatures.

Based in the Netherlands, Daalimpex stores butter, fish, meat, fruit and other perishable, temperature-sensitive products in its refrigerated and freezer environments. To let customers access product status in real time, Daalimpex replaced its paper-based procedures with rugged wireless computers.

"Ever higher demands are being made on the traceability of our products," says controller Joost de Boer. "Customers insist on following the progress of goods at any time of the night or day. Legislation regarding product tracking and tracing is also increasing."

Heated vehicle-mount computers and scanners operate successfully in the -13°F facility. The company's cold storage data collection package also integrates seamlessly with the computer's Windows XP platform.

As incoming and outgoing products are scanned, real-time information is transmitted to a central computer system. Daalimpex's customers can easily access the product information online.

"Our throughput time has been radically reduced and we can give our international clients much more accurate and up-to-date information as a result of the industrial computers," says de Boer.