So what exactly needs to be done to ensure lifetime monitoring and tracking for electronics? What conditions need to be met, and why exactly do fragile electronics need to be so heavily monitored? Let’s dive in.

What qualifies as a consumer electronic?

Consumer electronics or consumer devices are electronic devices that are used for personal needs, rather than a commercial need. Common consumer electronics include smartphones, laptops, desktops, printers, television sets, and video game consoles.

A significant majority of consumer electronics are extremely fragile. Consumer electronics usually contain delicate components such as circuit boards and other fiberglass-based elements. If a circuit board is jolted out of place in a laptop, the coils and transistors needed to keep the device operating could pop out of place or have their delicate solder joints damaged. A simple bump in the road could cause an unsecured pallet to jolt and possibly topple the product, causing hundreds if not thousands of dollars in product waste.

How to monitor consumer electronics during shipping

Consumer electronics like laptops, smartphones, and desktops should be packaged and shipped with specific safety protocols in place. They also should be heavily monitored through the use of tracking software.

There are a variety of protocols a business can use to ensure their products arrive safely to their customers. To start, the actual product packaging should be insulated and designed to cushion the device in the event of a bump. This is especially so for particularly delicate smartphone devices. Product packaging should be taught and cushion the device inside. Just as well, the outside packaging of products that will be situated on pallets is also important. Large boxes that contain computers should be thoroughly padded with styrofoam and pallet covers to ensure their safe arrival.

Larger electronics like desktops and television sets should be transported with extreme care. For example, if a desktop computer has a window side panel, the computer should be placed on its side with the window facing an upward direction during shipment. Proper shipping orientation can significantly reduce strain on the motherboard and other heavier components within the product. For televisions, boxes that store each product should have just enough space for packing material. There should not be a significant amount of space in which the product can shift around.

Once the packaging protocols are in place and everything is as secure as possible, it’s important to monitor consumer electronics through the entire shipment journey. Semi-trucks that transport bulk freight should be monitored with software that can detect tilt and shocks, such as Logmore’s QR tag-based tracking and monitoring software. Using condition monitoring software is actually quite easy-- simply use a QR tag system or a similar tracking device from a vendor, install it in your trucks or individual pallets, and monitor the conditions of the pallets of freight during transportation. High-quality monitoring and logistics vendors should also allow for other forms of tracking, such as temperature, humidity, light exposure, etc.

When you can track the conditions of a shipment, you can get insight into the quality of your trucks or outsource trucking company, as well as what routes should be avoided or taken. Reporting and analytics are very important for improving customer satisfaction, and monitoring your shipments should likewise involve quick and immediate reporting so that you can fix problems in real-time. Just as well, monitoring software can also help you keep an eye on the location of your freight.

There are so many use cases for investing in monitoring tools for your shipments. And the most important stop on the supply chain to monitor closely is at the very end.

The importance of the final mile

The last mile refers to the last step of the delivery and the last portion of the supply chain. When it comes to electronics, the last mile of a delivery journey involves a parcel carrier delivering the products to customers’ homes.

During this period, a lot of things could happen to your product. A small package carrier could toss it around, damage it, or otherwise cause some kind of harm to the product. Because logistics tend to focus on what happens earlier in the supply chain (manufacturing and freight), some businesses do not invest in shipment monitoring for the final mile.

Last mile logistics have great importance in terms of ensuring that packages arrive in perfect condition. A transportation management system and package tracking system should absolutely be utilized in order to get full visibility of your supply chain.

Logmore’s platform for dependable freight tracking and data logging

Shipment monitoring for e-commerce businesses is crucial, especially for businesses that sell consumer electronics online. And Logmore is here to make the process even easier.

Logmore uses a QR tag system to track the conditions of freight for all levels of the supply chain and makes it extremely easy to track the temperature, shocks, humidity, and light exposure in your shipments. Simply attach a tag to your product and link that tag ID to your shipments. Each and every scan that you upload onto your Logmore account is saved to the cloud, so nothing gets lost. You can also check out reports, issues, and charts through Logmore’s simple and easy-to-use desktop via your mobile device as well.

You don’t have to be in the dark about your freight and shipment conditions with Logmore data loggers. Take a look at our pricing plans to get started!

Want to test Logmore's services in practice? Order a free temperature logger!