Cold chain plays a big part in the life-cycle of pharmaceuticals, food and chemicals, as it is the means used to preserve and guarantee the usability of these whilst they are in storage or during transport. The products being transported in cold chain are time-temperature-critical, so cold chain monitoring is essential.
What is the cold chain process?
Supply Procurement → Transport → Storage → Transport → End Customer
The cold chain process is as shown above or similar, sometimes with added links, particularly if it’s biopharmaceuticals being shipped, as they are delivered to medical establishments prior to reaching the end user.
The cold chain is made up of the means/locations that the product will go to/through on its journey, and at every point the required “cold” temperature set much be maintained.
What is cold chain monitoring?
Cold chain monitoring is the name for the validation efforts of temperate-controlled supply chain. One of the popular means of monitoring, evaluating and controlling the cold chain is by using data loggers. Temperature data loggers monitor the temperature during each environment they are in, and if Wessex Power data loggers are used, the data is stored automatically onto our cloud-based software, so it can be viewed 24/7 in real-time and they have precise accuracy.
This environmental monitoring solution meets data recording requirements and has PDF reporting; so reports can easily be exported to present as validation for the temperature maintained during the cold chain shipment.
Why is cold chain monitoring important?
Without cold chain monitoring, the fresh or frozen food produce, chemicals and, arguably more importantly, the vaccines being shipped will likely perish. In 2017, the degradation of temperature-sensitive drugs during shipping cost $5.4 billion av. globally. Product, and money, is wasted across industries for all temperature-critical products; if they aren’t sufficiently monitored or validation can’t be produced then those items can’t be distributed to people.
Read our collection of case studies to find out how big companies benefitted from choosing Wessex Power data loggers for their temperature monitoring solutions.
To discuss your requirements, or to find out more about how a USB temperature data logger can help your business, call +44 (0)1929 459 459 or make a general enquiry.