Transcan Advance is a robust in-vehicle temperature monitoring system designed for refrigerated transport in the food and pharmaceutical industries. It accurately logs and reports temperature and door status data in real time, ensuring full regulatory compliance and secure cold-chain traceability.
GB Electronics (GBE) have been involved in an exciting hands-on product journey with Transcan Advance. Initially approached to completely redesign and modernise Seven Telematics’ in-vehicle cold-chain product solution, we were subsequently contracted to provide full manufacturing and support services. This required a significant investment in resource and equipment (including a full upgrade to a surface mount assembly SMA line) to provide Just-In-Time (JIT) manufacturing and rapid customer service support.
Seven Telematics were subsequently acquired by Connexus Ltd (in 2019), who GBE worked with to enhance their productivity and product support team, which included transitioning some of the team via TUPE and further streamlining manufacturing to increase profitability. Then Connexas were acquired by Verilocation (rebranded as AddSecure) in 2020 – ‘a leading European provider of secure IoT connectivity solutions;’ to further enhance their Smart Transport portfolio, amongst the numerous market leading software solutions they provide.
GBE were initially selected for their innovative design and production capabilities, particularly their experience with in-vehicle datalogging, responsive manufacturing, extensive experience of design-for-compliance, and end-user customer service support. Over the course of two major ownership transitions, GBE have continued to scale their support and development capabilities, leveraging their growing team to deliver enhanced product offerings and seize new opportunities with leading technology partners.
The success and growth of this product line, lead to another acquisition, in 2025, as Verilocation acquired the in-vehicle, telemetric, fleet-management product range from AddSecure; to further Verilocation’s vision ‘to help fleets of any size become smarter, safer, and more efficient with our industry-leading connected fleet management technology.’
The brief was to understand the core business and technical requirements of Seven Telematics’ cold-chain distribution operations. This required a thorough evaluation of their existing (but aging) Transcan product, which had a large installed customer base of over 60,000 legacy units deployed across Europe. GBE worked closely with the client to identify the key enhancements necessary for a full redesign of the system. This early market research and discovery phase was critical to the project’s success, identifying who they wanted to reach and how this could be achieved.
Key requirements included enhanced monitoring of temperature, pressure, and compressor performance, along with accurate reporting of critical temperature data, both digitally and via an integrated thermal printer. The redesigned device also needed to handle large volumes of data and support over-the-air (OTA) communication for remote management.
Beyond electronics and firmware development, GBE designed the mechanical housing to ensure both aesthetic appeal and seamless integration with lorries and trailers. They also delivered a custom graphical user interface (GUI) and a back-end software platform to allow clients to access and manage their data effectively. A major additional responsibility was ensuring compliance with CE, VCA, and WELMEC regulations – an extensive and vital part of the project.
Key Points
Delivering a major upgrade to an established product in a mature market required a careful and customer-focused approach. There were a few key aspects which formed part of the project:
The Transcan Advance was successfully launched in 2017, marking a significant leap forward in cold-chain monitoring technology. Since its release, GBE has manufactured over 50,000 units, with deployments across seven European countries, and demand remains strong to this day. The product is perfect for ensuring food and pharmaceuticals are correctly transported in the required temperature. The newer vehicle-tracker feature provides added security and relief for fleets as they know where their drivers are at all times, also ensuring drivers behave appropriately.
We designed and continue to produce a versatile range of temperature probes, tailored to accommodate the full spectrum of trailer configurations used in both food and pharmaceutical distribution. Over time, we have continually enhanced the firmware, further optimising system performance to meet the increasingly stringent demands of regulated cold-chain environments. As a result, Transcan Advance has earned a reputation as a feature-rich, highly reliable, and industry-trusted solution.
The success of this product has delivered tangible value not only to our client but also to GBE as a business. It has supported continued investment in our in-house surface-mount assembly (SMA) production lines, leading to greater manufacturing efficiency, faster turnaround times, and scalability to meet future demand. Our ongoing design and procurement support has also proven essential in helping the project withstand the global supply chain disruptions that have affected the electronics industry since late 2021. Since then, we have also been able to bolster our sales, helping Transcan to develop updated models of their products; they now offer three different formats: Refrigerated Trailer, Refrigerated Rigid (with a Rigid or CAB Transcan unit) and Refrigerated Van (with a Rigid or CAB Transcan unit).
Core Features
Hardware Designed for all Environments:
