Cold Storage Alert Monitoring
Could you say, right now, what temperature each of your refrigerators and freezers is running at? Of course, there’s the old school approach of sending an employee to go check each unit manually. But given the option, you’d probably much rather have a cloud-based temperature monitoring system that automatically records the data without the need for human intervention, right? These kinds of cold storage monitoring systems are quicker, easier, and they come with some major advantages, too.
For example, organizations that adopt the latest remote fridge temperature monitoring systems can do so much more than just record temperatures. With Elemental Machines’ LabOps Intelligence Platform, lab managers can also access real-time monitoring and instant alerting for each asset, from anywhere at any time. Talk about 24/7 peace of mind!
Keep reading this article to find out more about cold storage and alerting, including:
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Which tool is used to measure the cold storage temperature?
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How can cold storage monitoring systems with dedicated alerting improve outcomes?
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How does a wireless temperature monitoring system work?
What is cold storage monitoring?
Cold storage monitoring refers to the practice of tracking and reporting temperature and other key data points for lab equipment like freezers and refrigerators. A cold storage monitoring system, then, refers to the different kinds of devices that labs use—from pen and paper to wireless devices—to record and retain this kind of information.
The everyday consumer may not give much thought to just how cold their freezer is—as long as the ice cream and the peas stay frozen. But, it’s business-critical for laboratories involved in medical research, pharmaceuticals, food processing, and manufacturing. Why? There are two primary reasons.
First, cold storage is an essential component of ensuring that biological samples, medications, vaccines, and more remain viable. A few degrees of fluctuation, over time, might not seem like a big deal. But, it can be the difference between a successful or failed study. No one wants to tell their boss that all their hard work, time, and money was wasted because no one noticed the freezer was on the fritz. What’s more, one study even found that the half-life of diagnostic antibodies may even be extended when they’re kept at a certain temperature (4 degrees celsius). In short, temperature matters.
Unfortunately, research shows that over 70% of labs have experienced catastrophic equipment failures that caused the loss of samples or materials. Elemental Machines is on a mission to help improve these numbers—and all the life-changing work accomplished in labs. With cold storage monitoring coupled with real-time alerts, which will be discussed further down in this article, labs can proactively and continuously track their assets.
Second, it’s not uncommon for regulations to require that samples remain at a certain temperature. For example, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) requires that labs remain compliant with 21 CFR Part 11. This regulation states that data, including temperature data, needs to be collected and stored accurately. High-tech, continuous cold storage monitoring means labs won’t have to worry about manually collecting temperature data.
Elemental Machines’ all-in-one platform makes it easy for labs to track temperature data to ensure samples remain viable and compliance regulations are met. With Elemental Machines, organizations can also track key ambient and equipment data like humidity, light levels, pressure, equipment usage, machine health, and more.
What are temperature monitoring devices?
Temperature monitoring devices are the tools that laboratories and other kinds of facilities use to track and record temperature data. There are four primary types of cold storage temperature monitoring devices: thermometers, chart recorders, data loggers, and wireless IoT tools.
- Thermometers: The most low-tech option, thermometers can be placed inside a freezer or refrigerator to monitor temperature. Throughout the day, a designated person will need to go and check each thermometer and record the results in a log. While thermometers are certainly cost effective, disadvantages like higher labor costs, human error, and a lack of alerts or alarms can outweigh the benefits.
- Chart recorders: A step up from thermometers, chart recorders are a more automated freezer and refrigeration monitoring system. Using a tool that looks similar to a seismograph, temperatures are recorded continuously. Yet these devices still require human intervention to change out paper, and the data they record is often less granular than some of the newer options. And, like thermometers, chart recorders don’t typically offer alarm or alerting systems.
- Data loggers: Data loggers are essentially automated, smart thermometers that offer continuous temperature monitoring. With data loggers, organizations can track and record temperatures, which are stored using a USB or local area network. And while these devices may have alarms, they don’t typically offer remote alerting, making it difficult to respond to situations in a timely manner—especially if no one is nearby.
- Wireless IoT Tools: Finally, the future of temperature monitoring exists in wireless, cloud-based tools. Thanks to the IoT, this type of refrigerator and freezer temperature monitoring system involves no wiring or connections. Instead, all the components are connected to the internet to provide real-time data via the cloud. Gone are the days of wondering when should temperature checks be conducted and who has the data. It’s all in one accessible location! What’s more, these systems send alerts on temperature inconsistencies, open doors, and other events—empowering organizations to monitor all their assets anywhere, anytime.
How does cold storage alert monitoring work?
At this point, it should be fairly clear that the alerting built into wireless IoT tools provides benefits like real-time monitoring of lab assets. But how exactly do they work, what kinds of alerts can labs develop, and can these alerts improve outcomes?
To start, cold storage alert monitoring works by connecting assets, like refrigerators and freezers, to the internet via hardware devices like the Element T. From there, lab personnel can set up and create various kinds of alerts based on the specifications for their assets. Think of alerts like a refrigerator or freezer alarm that connects to a phone so the right people are notified, regardless of if they’re on site. With Elemental Machines’ full platform solution, organizations have access to three kinds of alerts:
- Threshold alerts: Custom threshold alerts allow labs to perform remote temperature monitoring via cell phone or other internet-enabled device. They can create notices should an asset’s temperature fall outside an acceptable range. For example, say one of a lab’s 14 freezers warms up to 5 degrees celsius, 1 degree above the allowed threshold. Depending upon the alerts created, the appropriate individuals will receive an alert. These notifications allow lab personnel to quickly identify problems and take corrective actions to fix the issue before it degrades the material held in the freezer asset. Alerts during dinner may not be the most welcome, but they’re certainly better than the alternative.
- Contextual alerts: Contextual alerts track the context and behavior around an asset to provide insights into usual and unusual behavior. For example, say one of a lab’s refrigerators is predominately used for long-term storage and is opened, on average, once every three months. Now imagine that the same refrigerator is opened 47 times in two days. Odd, right? Contextual alerts notify the appropriate lab staff to check in on their assets should any unexpected behavior occur. Alternatively, a lab manager might find out that four of their freezers haven’t been opened in a year—are they even needed? These alerts guide data-driven insights and help guide better decision-making to optimize the number of supported lab assets
- Custom alerts: Along with the above built-in capabilities, organizations can also define custom alerts to capture any other important events. For example, lab managers may want to set custom notifications to alert specific individuals should in the event of an asset malfunction or a power failure. All of this allows for deeper insight into asset performance.
Elemental Machines’ full solution wireless temperature monitoring for a laboratory or any other industry allows users to receive these alerts via SMS text messaging, voice, in-app notifications, and email. With capabilities to take assets offline with alert pausing, take time off with escalating alerts, and develop customized user groups, it’s easy to formulate the exact right solution. In fact, organizations can even integrate data into their Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) or Quality Management System (QMS) to log event information with a timestamp for further utilization.
According to Lyndsey Rissin, Senior Manager, Lab Operations at LabCentral, custom monitoring and alerting has made a huge difference. “Now we have real-time monitoring of temperature which provides us insights into equipment functionality, analysis of shared equipment usage, and the ability to detect problems. We had a refrigerator that was slowly increasing in temperature over a period of time. The average temperature was still inside the desired range, but the equipment clearly wasn’t functioning.” They were able to proactively send the asset off for repair, saving time and costs associated with more reactive maintenance.
What is the best wireless temperature monitoring system? Meet Elemental Machines
Labs are busy, and they deserve quick, easy, and effective tools that empower them to work better. That’s where Elemental Machines comes in. Our all-in-one solution provides organizations with a complete, dedicated platform solution.
With easy-to-install Element T devices, every refrigerator and freezer has a dedicated internal temperature sensor to perform continuous temperature monitoring, alerting the right people at the right time of any events that could impact samples, pharmaceuticals, and more. That data is then uploaded to the cloud so labs can access both real-time and historic temperature data. What’s more, Elemental Machine’s user-friendly API allows teams to integrate all this data with their existing BMS, ELN, LIMS, and QMS.
Ready to learn more about how Elemental Machines can optimize your lab? Schedule a demo today.