Real-time monitoring solutions and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies can identify more problems in cold chains than incumbent systems, but a strong business case exists only for high-value products like vaccines or clinical samples, and commodities that suffer high loss rates, according to Lux Research.

The "last mile" is a telecom term for delivering telephone, cable or internet services to the customer's location. With the most connections to make, it's the bottleneck of the system. It's also the most expensive and difficult to upgrade.