When the temperature gets warmer and the humidity goes up outside your facility, the temperature and humidity can change inside your facility too. Even small changes in temperature and humidity can mean the difference between our product being safe and unsafe. This is where temperature and humidity mapping come in. By mapping out your warehouses, cold rooms, refrigerators, freezers, and any other location that environmental control is important, you can rest assured that your product is safe.
We recently discussed this topic with an industry expert to learn about their plans for their summer plans with the mapping of their locations. We have summarized the discussion below.
While summer in 2022 officially begins on June 21, summer warehouse mapping efforts begin well before that. Depending on the climate region that a location is in, the mapping process often begins in April or May. In many regions, this is when the temperature and humidity levels start to move higher. Thus, that is when many studies will begin.
Two of the key points with any study is the duration that the study will run and the sample rate at which information is gathered. For warehouse mapping, the average from our discussions found that most studies were performed with a duration of 24 to 48 hours, with a sample rate of about every 15 minutes. That equals out to about 96 to 192 data points per study. By completing the study in this method, the user can clearly see temperature and humidity levels rise and fall throughout the day and night.
Generally, regulatory guidance from the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) are what is typically followed when a user is considering the data from a study and what is safe and acceptable levels of humidity and temperature.
Kaye offers several equipment options when it comes to how data is collected. From our discussions, we found that many organizations like to have the option for real time data. This allows them to see where issues are presenting themselves during a study, and work to correct those possible problem areas. While this would not be a requirement, it is generally agreed that having this option is an outstanding feature to have.
Kaye also offers the option to purchase your own equipment, or rent equipment, depending on your needs. Generally, the size of the study is what makes this decision for our users in this discussion. For a smaller sized study, purchasing equipment is the direction that most organizations go. But, as the size of the study area increases, renting the equipment that is required becomes a better option. Remember, you have the option to rent equipment from Kaye to increase your study size by combining your own purchased equipment with Kaye’s rental equipment options.
Gathering information about your location is a very important step to complete when you have temperature and humidity sensitive product. Kaye has the equipment that can make this task much easier to do. If you would like to learn more about our mapping equipment options, please contact us today to get the process started. You can visit us online here: https://www.kayeinstruments.com/contact
We also have a video that gives you more information as well. You can view that video here: