ERP for cold chain. A temperature excursion quarantines the lot before anyone sells it.
When a temperature goes out of range, the affected lots are held before anyone picks them, and a recall starts from a list of customers.
Built on Inventory, no ready packHow does Kinnow help a cold-chain business? When a temperature reading goes out of range, the affected lots are held before anyone picks them. A manager releases them or writes them off with a reason, and a recall starts from a list of customers instead of a search. Nothing is filed, paid or posted without a person.
Your business in one paragraph
Cold-chain stock is perishable twice over: it expires on the calendar and it spoils on the thermometer. The money is in the lot, not the item, so the books must know which lot sits in which room, how old it is and what the room did to it. Reports arrive late, and a temperature breach is often found after the stock has shipped. Three things keep the owner awake.
A breach noticed after dispatch
The reading was out of range for an hour, and the lot was on a truck by then.
Near-expiry lots going out last
Habit sends the fresh stock out first, and the old lot ends up written off.
A recall that takes days
You cannot trace a lot beyond the warehouse door, so the customer list is built by hand.
Tell us your warehouse zones and see a breach hold a lot on your own item codes.
How your month runs on Kinnow
Cold chain runs on Stock & Ship with Sell, Buy and Account around it. There is no ready-made industry setup; the steps below are what the Inventory capability does today.
| # | Step | Who | Application | Where a person signs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Goods received against a purchase order; a receipt can be held in quarantine on arrival | Receiving clerk | Stock & Ship, Buy | Manager accepts or rejects a held receipt, with a reason |
| 2 | Lots stored by warehouse with batch and expiry date | Warehouse supervisor | Stock & Ship | Stock transfers between warehouses are dispatched and received |
| 3 | Room temperature readings recorded: reading, target, how long, items affected | Monitoring system, QA | Stock & Ship | Allowed ranges set by your QA head |
| 4 | A reading outside the allowed range puts the affected lots on hold (quarantine) | Automatic | Stock & Ship | Release needs a manager and a reason |
| 5 | QA reviews the held lot: release it to active or route it to a write-off | QA head | Stock & Ship | Release or write-off signed by a named person |
| 6 | Orders picked earliest-expiry first; picking a different lot is flagged | Warehouse supervisor | Sell, Stock & Ship | Pick confirmed by the picker |
| 7 | A nightly check marks lots past their date; expired stock is claimed back from suppliers where the claim period allows | Accounts, buyer | Stock & Ship, Buy | Claim sent by a person |
| 8 | Write-off moves from draft to pending approval to approved to posted; the loss reaches the ledger | Warehouse supervisor, controller | Stock & Ship, Account | Submitter cannot approve; controller posts |
| 9 | Recall: trace a lot forwards to customers and backwards to the supplier receipt | QA head | Stock & Ship | Customer notices sent by a person |
| 10 | Month-end close and GST returns | Finance head, CA | Account, Comply | Return and close signed by a person |
What we set up with you
Cold chain has no ready-made industry setup in the app, and we do not claim ready-made limits or reports for it. In the two weeks we set up the following with you, using what the product already does:
- Room types and allowed ranges. The starting limits are a cold room 0.5 degrees Celsius off target for 10 minutes, a freezer 1.0 degree off for 5 minutes and an ambient zone 2.0 degrees off for 30 minutes. You can change them for the company and for each warehouse.
- Release rights. Releasing a lot from quarantine needs a manager and a reason.
- Write-off approvals. A write-off passes four stages; the person who submits it cannot approve it, and only the controller posts it.
- Expiry and claim periods for returning expired stock to suppliers.
- The link from your monitoring system into Kinnow, built with your monitoring vendor.
- The month-end close and access Processes that every company starts with.
Processes, built in
A full set of best-practice processes for your industry comes switched on. Each one says who owns a step, which steps Kinnow insists on, and how long a hand-over between departments may wait. You can print any of them as a standard operating procedure (SOP).
Ask us to walk one excursion from reading to write-off on your stock.
Agents for cold chain
Expiry Watchdog
Checks active lots every night and marks those past their expiry date as expired, so they stop being offered.
FEFO/FIFO selector
A rule built into the pick list: it uses the lot that expires first (FEFO) or the one that came in first (FIFO), as you choose when the list is made, and checks again when the pick is confirmed.
Expiry return claim
Groups expired lots under their supplier, works out the claim period and drafts the return or credit claim. It sends nothing.
Recall trace
Traces a batch back to the supplier receipts and forward to every customer it went to, and shows where the rest sits. It notifies nobody.
Slow-mover Detector
Finds stock that has not moved for a set number of days and ranks it by the money tied up in it, so you can review it.
StockStock Forecaster
Forecasts demand for the next 30, 60 and 90 days for each item and warehouse, with a suggested safety stock and reorder point. It never acts on its own.
Dead Stock Recovery
For each dead-stock item, works out the value at risk and suggests a transfer, a discount sale or a write-off. A person decides.
We check each agent with you before it works on their books, and whatever it produces waits for a person. The earlier Cold Chain Watchdog agent has been retired: the temperature check now runs as soon as a reading is recorded.
Statutory and compliance calendar for a cold-chain business (India)
Kinnow prepares; a person confirms and files. Dates are not printed here because the department sets them; Comply carries your calendar. Licences specific to your trade, such as food or drug licences, are not tracked by Kinnow.
| Obligation | What Kinnow prepares | Who confirms |
|---|---|---|
| GSTR-1, GSTR-3B and GSTR-2B | GSTR-1 built from your books, with a file ready for the portal; GSTR-2B matched before a return is marked filed | Accounts executive, CA |
| E-invoice and e-Way bill | Generated from the approved invoice and dispatch | Dispatch clerk, accounts |
| Vehicle compliance dates | Transport lists vehicles with compliance documents falling due | Fleet coordinator |
| TDS and TCS challans and returns | Draft challans and return rows by section | CA |
| Payroll deductions | PF, ESI, professional tax and TDS on salary | HR head |
What the owner sees
Three screens do the daily work: the quarantine list, the write-offs list and the trace report. Ask Kinnow answers questions on the inventory reports, with the source and cost shown before it runs.
- What is my stock worth right now, by warehouse? (Stock valuation)
- Show dead stock older than 180 days. (Dead stock)
- How old is the stock I am holding, and what is it worth? (Item-age valuation)
Illustration · sample data
| Lot · item | Zone | Reading | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lot B-2217 · Vaccine diluent | Cold room 2 | 11.2°C vs 4.0°C for 42 min | Held |
| Lot B-2231 · Curd 400 g | Cold room 2 | 11.2°C vs 4.0°C for 42 min | Held |
| Lot B-2102 · Paneer 200 g | Freezer 1 | Within tolerance | Active |
Numbers to watch
These come from registers the product holds. Cold chain has no ready-made set of reports, so the list is yours to extend.
| Number | Where you read it | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| Lots held in quarantine and their value | Quarantine list | Stock you cannot sell right now |
| Temperature breaches by room and week | Cold-chain readings register | Which room or compressor keeps drifting out of range |
| Expiry and quality write-offs | Write-offs list | The cost of spoilage, with who approved it |
| Stock by age band | Item-age valuation | Where money tied up in near-expiry stock sits |
| Expired stock claimed back | Expiry return claim | What was recovered from suppliers |
See quarantine and write-offs on a day of your own readings.
Applications switched on
| Generic term | In your Kinnow |
|---|---|
| temperature breach | excursion |
| on hold | quarantine |
| issue rule | FEFO (first expiry, first out) |
| loss | write-off (expiry, damage or quality failure) |
Questions
Does Kinnow read our temperature sensors?
Not directly. Kinnow records the readings sent to it for a warehouse room (the temperature, the target, how long it lasted and which items are affected) and acts on them. The sensors and the link from your monitoring system stay with your monitoring vendor; connecting that link is part of the set-up.
What happens to a lot after an excursion?
Every active lot in that warehouse for the affected items goes on hold, with the reason and the reading recorded. If the reading names no items, every active lot in the warehouse is held. A held lot cannot be picked. A manager then releases it, with a reason, or it goes for a write-off.
Is there a ready-made cold-chain setup?
No. Cold chain is built on the Inventory capability, not on an industry setup of its own. We set up the rooms, allowed ranges, release rights and write-off approvals with you; the quarantine, expiry, FEFO and tracing described on this page are in the product today.
Can we run a recall?
Yes. Tracing a lot backward shows the supplier receipt, and tracing it forward shows every customer it went to. The recall trace agent follows a batch to its customers and to where the rest sits; it notifies nobody, so a person decides what to send.
Who can write stock off?
A write-off goes through four stages: draft, pending approval, approved, posted. The person who submits cannot approve their own, and only a controller posts it. Posting reduces stock and sends the loss to your books. Reasons include expiry, damage and quality failure.
How do near-expiry lots go out first?
A pick list built from a delivery order takes the earliest-expiry lot first for items that carry an expiry date, and the pick is checked again when confirmed. Picking a different lot is flagged, not blocked. A nightly expiry check marks lots past their date as expired.
How long to set up?
About two weeks to first results for one warehouse. The link from your sensors depends on your monitoring vendor and may take longer.
Show me Kinnow for cold chain.
Answer three questions. Get the applications, the agents and a two-week plan for your business.