Traditional Cold Storage Infrastructure Meets Its Disruption Point
The cold chain logistics sector has operated under the same fundamental constraint for decades: storing temperature-sensitive inventory requires expensive freezer chambers, specialized infrastructure, and workers who endure harsh conditions. For grocery retailers, pharmaceutical distributors, and life sciences organizations, this reality translates into substantial capital expenditures, operational inefficiencies, and compromised space utilization. OPEX Corporation and Peltier are dismantling this paradigm with a technology partnership that introduces the first multi-temperature zone, multi-deep cold storage solution purpose-built for automated fulfillment systems.
How AI-Enabled Totes Eliminate the Need for Freezer Chambers
The collaboration integrates Peltier’s actively cooled, AI-enabled totes into OPEX’s Perfect Pick and Infinity automated storage and retrieval systems (ASRS). Unlike conventional approaches that demand costly infrastructure modifications, this solution operates within ambient warehouse environments—no freezer rooms required.
“Many of our customers have expressed a need for multi-temperature capabilities, but are often dissuaded by traditional solutions that require costly infrastructure and complex system changes,” explained Monty McVaugh, Head of Product, Warehouse Automation at OPEX. “By integrating Peltier’s tote technology into our existing framework, we can now deliver a flexible, scalable, efficient, and highly cost-effective solution without modifying our core systems.”
The Peltier Tote: Precision Temperature Control at Scale
Each Peltier Tote features individually controlled temperature setpoints with IoT connectivity, enabling real-time monitoring through integrated API messages. Power flows to each tote during multi-deep storage, while OPEX iBOT robotic vehicles maintain temperatures during transport, ensuring unbroken cold chain integrity. This architecture allows organizations to intermingle refrigerated, frozen, and ambient inventory within the same footprint—a capability previously unattainable without substantial capital investment.
The system’s physical AI capabilities drive dynamic energy management and generate detailed compliance reporting for products subject to FDA regulations. This granular control matters significantly in pharmaceutical and life sciences applications, where temperature excursions can compromise product efficacy and regulatory standing.
Risk Mitigation Through Distributed Temperature Control
Conventional cold storage rooms present a catastrophic risk profile: refrigeration failure jeopardizes entire inventory volumes. The Peltier approach isolates potential issues to individual totes, dramatically reducing exposure to total product loss. This distributed architecture transforms risk management for organizations handling high-value temperature-sensitive goods.
Environmental considerations also distinguish this technology. Peltier Totes employ patented solid-state cooling technology rather than compressor-based systems that rely on harmful refrigerants. This design choice aligns with corporate sustainability commitments while delivering operational advantages.
Operational Impact: Worker Safety and Space Optimization
Eliminating freezer environments removes a significant occupational health consideration. Workers no longer navigate sub-zero conditions, improving comfort, safety, and potentially reducing labor turnover in fulfillment operations. Simultaneously, organizations reclaim valuable square footage previously dedicated to temperature-controlled zones, maximizing existing warehouse capacity without facility expansion.
“The Peltier Tote is fundamentally changing how the world applies cold storage in commerce,” stated Hanson Li, Chief Executive Officer at Peltier. “Together, OPEX and Peltier are delivering an advanced solution that breaks the traditional paradigm, where cold and temperature were treated as major constraints. Customers can now optimize operations, processes, and space without these concerns.”
This partnership represents a meaningful inflection point for industries constrained by cold chain requirements—not through incremental improvement, but through architectural reimagination of how temperature control integrates with automated fulfillment infrastructure.
About OPEX® Corporation
OPEX® Corporation is a global leader in Next Generation Automation, providing innovative, unique solutions for warehouse, document and mail automation. With headquarters in Moorestown, NJ—and facilities in Pennsauken, NJ; Plano, TX; France; Germany; Switzerland; the United Kingdom; and Australia—OPEX has nearly 1,600 employees who are continuously reimagining and delivering customized, scalable technology solutions that solve the business challenges of today and in the future. For more information, visit opex.com.
About Peltier
Peltier is redefining the cold chain industry by powering active, connected, and precise solutions built for the future of commerce. Peltier’s Modular Cold Chain (MC²) is the world’s first scalable, solid-state cooling ecosystem. The modular and IoT-enabled Peltier ToteTM, deployed in a variety of Peltier FrameworkTM (manual, automated and last mile), protects vulnerable aspects of the cold chain with flexibility and intelligence. The Peltier CloudTM enables physical AI to enhance critical operations while delivering energy management not possible before. Peltier’s vision is to master the art of cold to improve how we work and live. For more information, visit peltierpro.com.
