The Integrated Food Chain (IFC) Center

The IFC Center was established by Georgia Tech's Supply Chain and Logistics Institute and Sterling Solutions LLC as a collaborative effort among academic, government and industry constituents.  Our vision is to assure that growers, processors, retailers and logisitics providers can deliver on their "quality promise" in highy efficient ways through the use of systematic and synchronized linkages throughout their supply/cold chains.

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IFC Center Description

IFC Membership Overview 

The Integrated Food Chain (IFC) Center is ultimately about the need for a strategic capability among all food chain members. The Cold Chain service offer consists of seven interrelated products;

1. Product Abuse Testing – how and at what temperature and duration points products deteriorate throughout the supply chain and how severe the deterioration becomes throughout the test design which is based on real life operating environments.  

2. Food Engineering – based on abuse testing our science details how products are or should be designed and packaged in handling the rigors of selected distribution channels.  

3. Cold Chain Assessment and Audit – the vast majority of producers, distributors, foodservice operators and retailers have a vague understanding of abuse their frozen and perishable products experience throughout the extended cold chain. Specifically pertaining to limited insight about when, where and how products deteriorate throughout the cold chain. Moreover, there is little, if any, quantification or impact assessments made on compromised product in terms of cost related to declining shelf life, lost sales and spoils.  

4. Predictive Modeling – through the combination of food science (#1 and 2 above) and the cold chain audit and temperature monitoring technology we are able to predict, based on cumulative average ambient temperature, when selected products will leave the ‘safe zone’ and begin the deterioration process.

5. Performance Reporting and Index – this provides a performance rating for all of customers’ deliveries in a given day or other selected time periods. As an example, when a retailer has daily deliveries that can total in the hundreds an efficient way is needed to capture and report the ‘quality’ of deliveries based on meeting prescribed temperature ranges.

6. Continuing Education and Certification – the IFC provides and blends the science of food engineering and food safety with operations management in offering a unique approach to continuing education of members, clients and sponsors. It is the learning center for growers, producers, logistics providers, retailers and foodservice operators interested in applying cold chain processes to differentiate their business and to further provide a frictionless relationship with their customers.

7. A Learning Lab for Undergraduate and Graduate Students – the IFC provides hands-on training of students where they will have the necessary skills and proven experience required by growers, processors, distributors, retailers, foodservice providers and research and analytical firms.