How to Find the Right Cold Chain Solution For You

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The pharmaceutical industry faces a number of regulatory demands and challenges, one of which is the need for a logistics supply chain that supports it in guaranteeing that medication and equipment will be precisely temperature controlled for the entire duration that it remains in transit.

There are a number of cold chain solutions that can be employed to deliver this requirement ranging from temperature controlled packaging to refrigerated vehicles, but which is best for you?

Choosing appropriate cold chain solutions

Every time pharmaceutical equipment or medication enters the logistics supply chain, it will have a bespoke requirement relating to its safe carriage, the duration of its journey and special handling considerations. These will be to safeguard the operator, as well as the equipment or medication itself.

The first step in selecting the right cold chain solutions for your business is to establish contact with appropriate service providers and to discuss your requirements. They should provide you with details of their temperature controlled packaging options and any other cold chain solutions that they have successfully implemented for other clients.

You will need to explain to the company whether you will be shipping within the EU or to the USA and detail the temperature constraints associated with your shipment. With temperature controlled packaging capable of maintaining temperatures of between -80°C and +20°C, locating a suitable solution should be reasonably straightforward.

You will also need to detail the size, shape and weight of your consignment to determine whether it falls into the category of sub, half, single or double. These categories relate to the size of the pallet required for the shipment, with sub being suitable for manual handling, whilst half refers to a low Euro pallet, single is a standard Euro pallet and double is equivalent to two Euro pallets in length.

If your consignment is to travel by air, your chosen provider will be able to advise whether a narrow-bodied plane will be capable of handling your load, or whether you will need to book a space on a wide-bodied flight. This will largely depend on the dimensions and weight of your consignment, rather than its temperature control requirements, as they will typically be externally monitored without the need for human intervention.

The ideal solution for this demanding environment is for any shipment to be monitored via an integrated data logger which continually logs the in-transit temperature to ensure that it remains within acceptable parameters for the entirety of its transit.

When your consignment requires the personal touch

Innovation is essential in this industry and although many solutions are offered as standard, there may be an instance when the off-the-shelf solutions will not fully satisfy your requirements and you will need to engage a forward-looking company such as Tower Cold Chain that is willing to work with you to deliver a custom solution.

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