How WFS ensured GDP-compliance for their pharma terminal with Eupry temperature mapping

Dive into how Worldwide Flight Services (WFS) secured temperature compliance with reliable temperature mapping when opening their new pharma terminal.

WFS is a global logistics, air cargo, passenger, and ground handling company. Due to increased market demand for GDP-certified handling of temperature-sensitive pharma products, WFS invested in the opening of a new temperature-controlled terminal to ensure further capacity for growth. To guarantee the correct storage of sensitive pharma products, they chose to utilize Eupry's validation processes.

The mapping needs of WFS

Andreas Schultz, Scandinavian Quality Manager, WFS, has been involved in the preparation of making the new temperature-controlled terminal ready to meet the GDP standards:

When we began our research of finding a company, that could help us with meeting the strict GDP standards, we quickly became aware of Eupry. Eupry, being the local heroes they are, stood out among their competitors, as they provide a customized mapping process, GDP consulting and mapping, resulting in complete compliance as a service solution.

“We needed to be able to both document full control and monitoring of the temperatures within all facilities, as well as being able to pull out live and historic data”, says Allan Witt, GDP Responsible Person, WFS, who participated in the decision-making of finding a suitable mapping solution for WFS.

Why temperature mapping?

Conditions vary inside temperature-controlled environments due to a range of factors, and the changing properties of an environment cannot be determined without a planned mapping study.

A temperature mapping provides the needed information on where, why, and how temperature variation occurs in a storage facility like the one in WFS’s case. A completed mapping study provides a company with the data needed to understand and optimize the use of any of its temperature-controlled environments, ensuring their validity, homogeneity, and stability.

More specifically for logistics companies such as WFS, the purpose of temperature mapping of temperature-controlled environments is to determine which areas can be used to store temperature-sensitive products, and the ability to obtain calibration certificates for the temperature data loggers.

A mapping identifies suitable storage zones based on the highest point of storage, heaters, coolers, lighting, windows, doors, loading bays etc. and determines which zones are of special risk to temperature fluctuations, and where it would be most purposeful to place data loggers permanently.

Also read: How Eupry's temperature mapping solutions work.

”The first essential step in successful temperature mapping is planning”, says Jakob Konradsen, co-founder, and Chief Quality Officer, Eupry.

A company must identify requirements and risks in constructing its facilities to define necessary mitigating factors. After determining what data is to be used, the next step in mapping an environment is initially setting up enough calibrated data loggers, according to their specifications, (operational qualification) and then testing that the data loggers perform as expected (performance qualification).

Jakob continues, “After correctly placing and collecting all data loggers and live recording and logging the data, the process moves on to analyzing and evaluating the data, finally creating a report documenting the calculations and results of the study. In the end, a company must match all its documentation with the results of the calibrations of the installed loggers. When reported data and equipment calibrations match, a company receives calibration certificates”.

Andreas Schultz (WFS) recalls, “We were met by a very enthusiastic Eupry team, that gave us a thorough introduction of the task ahead. They provided a complete service from initial consulting to the final certification.

Wireless data loggers with live readings from each logger make easy work of the mapping, further minimizing the risk of human error and eliminating the need for time-consuming, individual handling of loggers and USB sticks”.

“Better data with no hassle”, Andreas Schultz, WFS

Eupry’s mapping process was fast, precise, and user-friendly”, says Andreas Schultz, WFS, while Allan Witt, WFS adds, “What stands out in Eupry’s services, is the online interface that makes the monitoring of loggers and data analysis as well as visualization both intuitive, customizable, and precise.

Jakob Konradsen explains, “Eupry aims to minimize all struggle or worry, that our clients might experience when performing a mapping study. For example, our mapping setup time is minimized with logger calibration accessible online for quick certification, and real-time tracking ensures instant troubleshooting. Online data logging makes time-consuming manual USB extraction seem obsolete, while at the same time eliminating the risk of human error.

Data is instantly accessible in the form of either user-friendly reports or raw data spreadsheets. Eupry analytic software also provides useful data visualizations, and online access to calibration certificates reduces mapping time to a matter of days and minimal effort”.

What to consider when performing mapping exercises as a logistic company:

Depending on the nature of the facility or unit, logistics companies should be aware of

• anything from the exterior properties of a building,
• the location of a temperature-controlled environment,
• the temperature mass of an environment,
• how opening the environment, and how storing new items could affect temperature
• how items in storage and vents affect airflow and temperature distribution within the environment.

When mapping an environment, placement and number of mapping loggers are important to consider.

• The number and placement of data loggers must reflect the properties of the unit to precisely map temperature variations across the environment.
• To conduct a temperature mapping of an environment, a logistics company should consider all properties of their facilities and storage items and how these factors may affect mapping regarding the documented specifications of the measuring equipment.

Also read: The secrets of effective and reliable temperature mapping

“The kind of partner you want in any context”, Allan Witt, WFS

“Eupry services ensure high standards while saving time and resources”, says Allan Witt, WFS.

“The Eupry loggers let me know online when a battery needs changing, so I simply always carry a few batteries in my pocket, so I can change them when needed”. He further jokes, “When I push its tummy, it sends an update”, and explains how a push of a button on a Eupry logger will immediately send a data reading that he can access live online. “The Eupry loggers are identified by individual human names making it easy for me to keep track of the specific loggers through the online software”.

Jakob Konradsen, Eupry explains, “Eupry provides logistics companies with a complete service from GDP consultation and plug-and-play hardware to the automatic replacement of calibrated loggers and intuitive cloud software. A complete service package ensures an effective and accessible compliance-as-a-service solution that does not require logistics company employees to spend their time learning complicated protocols, physically handle data logging or carry out complex data analyses”.

Eupry’s compliance-as-a-service product includes automatic renewal of calibrated loggers, and freshly calibrated external sensors are automatically shipped from Eupry to easily replace existing sensors with minimal handling and no downtime. With no need for training of employees, Eupry ensures consistent GDP compliance and accessible data.

Jakob concludes, “Our aim is to make it as easy as possible for our clients to ensure that they are maintaining pharma products under the rightful conditions”.

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