In a lane mapping, temperature recorders are shipped out either with live product shipments or through similar logistics methods to measure the temperatures that the package is exposed to during transit. The historical temperature data that is measured by the national weather services does not reflect the temperatures found in trucks, airplanes and warehouses. Between air conditioning and heating systems, altitude changes, greenhouse effects, etc., the temperatures that the package sees during transit could be dramatically higher or lower than the ambient temperature. This is why we measure the actual temperatures from real world shipments in order to develop an understanding of these differences. The goal is then to develop cold chain packages that can survive the known shipping temperatures.
It is important to start by examining the logistical systems for similarities and variability. If the company has multiple shipping locations, then planning studies from each of these origin points is important. If there are too many locations, group them into manageable sub-groups and choose a representative location to act an origin. “Representative” can either refer to geographical or societal. For example, most people in Canada live near the US border, so choosing locations in that band makes sense even though it is not necessarily in the middle geographically. Choosing the destinations properly is also important and should include a mix of normal locations along with some worst case outlier locations. If the vast majority of destinations are a short distance from the origin, then the majority of the mapping lanes should be a short distance along with a few that are very far away. All climate zones should also be examined. For shipments throughout the continental United States, locations in the north and south should be included, incorporating known hot and cold spots such as Arizona and North Dakota.
Next, the timing of the shipments to be measured needs to be determined. It can be difficult to predict which dates will result in the most extreme temperature measurements. Therefore, if the area being mapped is very large, then some areas can be hotter than normal while others are colder than normal. The seasons to be measured also needs to be determined. A standard version of this study would perform summer measurements in June or July and winter measurements in January or February. Mixing in another set of measurements during spring or fall as well can either create a third “intermediate season” temperature test profile or provide milder results to contrast with the harsher seasonal data.
Once these decisions are made, the actual study needs to be carried out. The origin(s) and destination(s) all need people to ship and receive the temperature recorders, respectively. Ideally, each recorder will be packed up in a box (similar in size to the normal shipping container) that is vented with air holes to allow the temperature recorder access to outside air. Upon receipt at the destination, the time should be noted and the logger stopped and returned to the origin. The logger could also be downloaded and just the data returned as well. This means that the destinations chosen need to correspond with a physical person that is willing participate in the data gathering. Upon receipt, the data is then complied and analyzed to develop the temperature profiles.
CASE STUDY
Cryopak is currently partnering with a leading Canadian integrated freight, parcel and logistics solutions provider to map the Canadian logistical system, utilizing their extensive transportation and logistics networks and supporting infrastructure. Here is an excerpt from the rationale in the protocol:
“Temperature-sensitive products are shipped from several distribution centers across Canada. The distribution centers selected for this study are located in Toronto and Montreal. Within these distribution centers, there are two methods of transportation: Express and Ground shipments. Both Express and Ground shipments include standard and worst case scenario shipping lanes. Standard shipping lanes are defined as high volume lanes used on a frequent basis. The worst case scenario lanes are defined as remote locations with severe environmental conditions. For each shipping lane, triplicate testing is performed during each season (summer, winter and intermediate).”
Three origin points were chosen, each with nine destinations across the country.
Cryopak had previously conducted a similar mapping study that resulted in the temperature profiles that were used to create our Canadian TimeSaver line of pre-qualified shippers. These profiles have also been used by major pharmaceutical companies for package qualifications successfully reviewed by Health Canada during compliance audits. That study was conducted several years ago, and this new one is intended to refresh the information gathered at that time and develop new Canadian standard profiles. (When this study is completed, we will follow up with another feature including the knowledge developed.)
If your company would like to perform a Lane Mapping Study with Cryopak, please contact us. We will provide a turn-key protocol to follow along with our proprietary temperature recorders to make the process easy and reliable.
Author:
Anthony Alleva, Technical Director
