Establishing Strategic Insight into the Animal Health Supply Chain with Tec4med
Establishing strategies to support risk mitigation is important to all animal health operations, but it’s especially vital to those who store their sensitive materials onsite. The risk of slight fluctuations in temperature could render cells and other commodities useless, greatly devastating project timelines, cost savings, and the overall useability of the finished product.
As a part of Cryoport, Inc., Tec4med’s digital supply chain solutions help animal health operations achieve streamlined efficiency for their risk mitigation strategies. Tony Thomas, Cryoport Systems’ Executive Director of Business Development, Animal Health, and Nico Höler, Managing Director at Tec4med, explore risk mitigation tactics and address how Tec4med’s technology services add visibility into the animal health storage and supply chain to assist professionals in achieving success within their self-managed operations.
Support that Starts in Your Facilities
Compliantly storing sensitive materials onsite relies on constant monitoring. Ensuring material viability oftentimes requires manual observation by professionals around the clock, meaning that facilities must employ designated onsite personnel to track and record metrics. This constant monitoring can strain operations financially and increases the risk of human error potentially skewing the recording of important metrics.
Tec4med’s support of certainty begins within your facilities, offering an alternative to manual tracking with the Cryobeacon and LN2 probe. This duo system constantly records the metrics of cryogenic material stored in tanks and dewars, ensuring the viability of the housed materials. The LN2 probe is specifically designed to fit through even the smallest dewar necks to ensure superior hold times. The probe relays internal metrics to the Cryobeacon, which records the data 24/7 and boasts a year-long battery life.
“The Cryobeacon with the LN2 probe is perfect for clients who manage their own storage fleets. It is transportable along with a dewar or can remain in-facility to monitor tanks. This system assists with minimizing operational costs while still delivering the same value of continual tracking.” — Nico Höler, Tec4med
Data Management that Boosts Monitoring Capacity
Tec4med’s data tracking capabilities secure metrics captured by their Beacon devices within an intelligent cloud system specifically built for the life sciences. The recorded data is transferred to their Tec4Cloud system, which is an open platform for connecting and tracking their fleet of devices, and uses their intelligent SmartHub real-time monitoring solution. The SmartHub wirelessly connects to any Beacon device and extends stored materials’ metric visibility to:
- Temperature
- Humidity
- Geo-position
These metrics are then transferred to the Tec4Cloud, which enables clients to track condition parameters in real-time and send cross-platform notifications to personal devices. The platform includes personalized reports based on clients’ specified conditions as well as client-designated alerts.
“The monitoring capabilities ensure animal health professionals that what’s being monitored is safe. It combines peace of mind with personalization.” Nico Höler, Tec4med
Consistent Insight Placed Anywhere
While the Cryobeacon manages consistent tracking of internal metrics, Tec4med’s TempBeacon tracks environmental metrics inside storage facilities, vehicle cargo areas for transportation, and everywhere in-between. The TempBeacon is a wireless data logger that consistently records data such as temperature and humidity. This system is designed to record the metrics of the environment in which it is placed, making tracking various cold or hotspots within facilities or transport vehicles possible. In conjunction with the CryoBeacon, animal health professionals gain insight into their materials’ entire ecosystem both inside facilities and secured to vehicle interiors.
“Adaptability is a key feature of Tec4med’s technology. The ability to secure a TempBeacon anywhere allows our clients the flexibility they need to track on the go. Plus, the minimum year-long battery life of this system means that clients don’t have to stress about remembering to routinely charge these systems.” Tony Thomas, Cryoport Systems
Not only can the TempBeacon track from anywhere, but its metrics are also accessible anywhere. With Tec4med’s Tec4Cloud, clients can see their TempBeacon’s location on a worldwide map. This insight gives animal health professionals the ability to read the metrics of their devices anywhere in the world with the data stored for up to 10 years.
“The TempBeacon plus our additional solutions extends the visibility beyond the shipment itself into the physical facility as well as throughout the supply chain.” — Nico Höler, Tec4med
“Tec4med’s monitoring solutions are a complement to Cryoport System’s extensive logistics services. The combination is the ultimate support of a compliant animal health supply chain.” Tony Thomas, Cryoport Systems. For more information on our support of the animal health industry, reach out to us on our website.