Tips to Remember when Mapping Storage Areas for the Cold Chain!

When mapping storage areas (warehouses and trailers) for temperature sensitive items, you have to consider more than just taking note of the temperature in certain areas. You must also take into consideration dead areas, the outside temperature (such as summer and winter) and power failures (especially for trailer mapping).

Tip 1 – Keep Track of the Time

There is no specific regulatory requirement stating the appropriate amount of time to spend mapping your trailer, warehouse or equipment.  We recommend that you map your warehouse for a minimum of 7 days. This way you cover your week days and weekends. The primary objective for mapping your trailer or other type of equipment is to collect the data of all the cycles of your reefer or controller.  Therefore, we recommend 24 to 48 or 72 hours.  Pay close attention to the date and time when your mapping starts; it could be when you have placed your last logger, or when they start recording if they are pre-programmed. If you have planned to do a 24 hours mapping, you have to collect data for at least 24 hours. Twenty-three hours and 59 seconds is not acceptable.

Tip 2 – Place Temperature Sensors in Trouble Areas

Areas that see a lot of traffic (near the entrances and exits) and areas that are subject to dips or spikes in temperature should have temperature sensors installed. Not only does this let you know when there are shifts in temperature, but it also catches these shifts in real-time. There are no regulation stating on the number of loggers to be used and where to place them. We use to place them every 50ft long and at different level high. Plus everywhere there is a thermostat, a HVAC system. It is better to place more than less.

Tip 3 – Take Note of the Temperature Empty and With a Load

A cold empty vehicle can see a significant temperature rise when it’s fully loaded. Take note of the differences in temperature when it’s empty and when it’s fully or half-stocked. Usually we do the empty mapping and the full loaded in a row. We carefully note the beginning and the end of each cycle. To load a equipment or a trailer, you could use artificial products or boxes.

Tip 4 – Map After a Power Down Impact 

Instead of waiting for the worst case scenario, perform your own power down test to see what the temperature would be like without the intervention of coolers, fans or other electronic cooling equipment. Take note of the temperature in 5 minute intervals. Take note of how quickly vehicle takes to get back to the proper temperature as well. Two tests could be done:

1. Turn off the reefer and see how long it takes for the temperature of the trailer to go over 8C.
2. Turn off the primary reefer and if there is a back up one see if it starts automatically. (Sometimes both primary and back up work simultaneously).

Tip 5 – Don’t Assume the Temperature

You may have mapped an area dozens of times and could pretty much guess what the temperature is in that particular area. No matter how many times you’ve mapped an area, never “guess” the temp. Check it! A 2 degree difference can cause food to spoil, medicine to become unstable and perishable loads to become completely unusable. Usually the company should have stating in their own policies, how often they have to remap their warehouse (it is common to remap every 3 or 5 years). You have to remap if there is a major change (HVAC system), an extension of the area…For a trailer, if a major component is changed such as the reefer you need to re-qualify it (or through a change control) and remap it.

The same could be done not for a warehouse, but for a walk-in or any thermal equipment.

Contact us to do your temperature mapping.