TemperatureWise case study

A holiday-season alert helped protect up to $125,000 in frozen inventory.

TemperatureWise caught a failed automatic restart in a stationary reefer at a Mississauga production site, giving the team hours to intervene before the safety line.

Up to $125,000Estimated inventory protected
4 hoursFrom stop to alert
~1 hourTo restore target range
IncidentDecember 26, 2025
LocationMississauga, ON
EquipmentStationary reefer trailer
Confirmed causeWeak battery
OutcomeRestarted near 10:00 PM
Overview

One stationary reefer. One missed restart. No one on site.

A frozen smoothie brand used a stationary reefer trailer as production storage at its Mississauga site. It held an estimated $100,000 to $125,000 in frozen inventory.

At about noon on December 26, 2025, during the holiday season, the reefer stopped during an automatic operating cycle and did not restart. A weak battery was confirmed after diagnosis.

Map of North America showing three monitored distribution centers
Location Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. Production site using a stationary reefer trailer for frozen storage.
The challenge

A routine engine-off period became a no-start event.

Automatic start-stop modes can look routine. The risk begins when the reefer does not restart and no one is on site to see the temperature rise.

Up to $125,000 in one reefer

The stationary reefer protected a variable production load, estimated at $100,000 to $125,000 in frozen inventory.

The holiday season removed the visual check

The no-start occurred on December 26, with no one on site to distinguish a normal engine-off period from a failed automatic restart.

Cooling did not resume by itself

The temperature trace rose steadily for hours. The weak battery was confirmed after diagnosis, but the sensor data showed the operational risk before then.

The intervention

The team was alerted before the safety line was crossed.

TemperatureWise notified the team at about 4:00 PM, while the reefer was still at 10.9°F / -11.7°C. It crossed the 17.6°F / -8°C safety line at about 9:45 PM. The reefer was restarted around 10:00 PM and returned near target within an hour.

The failure was not a dramatic breakdown. It was a routine stop followed by a restart that never happened.
Incident summary, Mississauga production site
The temperature story

Hours of sensor data show the stop, alert and recovery.

Real sensor data from 8:00 AM on December 26 to 4:00 AM on December 27, 2025. The reefer stopped near noon, the team was notified at 4:00 PM, and cooling resumed around 10:00 PM.

Evidence: view the exported sensor readings (CSV). The chart displays every third reading for readability.

Stationary Reefer
Temperature Safety line Target
Mississauga stationary reefer temperature from December 26 to 27, 2025 The reefer stops around noon on December 26, TemperatureWise notifies the team at 4 PM, and cooling returns after the reefer is restarted around 10 PM.

Loading sensor data...

December 26 · 8:00 AM

Normal cycling holds near 5°F / -15°C.

About noon

The stationary reefer stops and does not restart.

4:00 PM

TemperatureWise notifies the team while the reefer remains above the target range but below the safety line.

9:45 PM

The temperature crosses the 17.6°F / -8°C safety line.

Around 10:00 PM

The reefer restarts. Cooling returns and reaches near -0.4°F / -18°C by midnight.

Insights: what the AI saw

The warning arrived before the stationary reefer lost its safety margin.

  • A clear change in behavior. Normal cycling ended near noon and became a steady rise, consistent with cooling no longer operating.
  • Action before the threshold. The 4:00 PM alert arrived at 10.9°F / -11.7°C, about 5 hours 45 minutes before the trace crossed 17.6°F / -8°C.
  • Confirmed recovery. After the weak battery was diagnosed and the reefer restarted around 10:00 PM, the temperature returned near target within one hour.
Conclusion

A weak battery should not become a six-figure inventory loss.

TemperatureWise gave the team hours to act before the stationary reefer crossed the safety line during the holiday season.

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