Helco Pharma: Real-time temperature monitoring

For more efficient processes through complete digitalization, automatic temperature mapping, and monitoring, as well as more safety and sustainable documentation: Hanau-based pharmaceutical logistics company HELCO equips pharmaceutical warehouses with modern real-time temperature monitoring.
Future of Healthcare

Helco Pharma is an experienced logistics company specializing in pharmaceutical transport and storage.

For 40 years now, the transport company has been offering its services as an international freight forwarder. In the last 20 years, the company has increasingly focused on GDP pharmaceutical logistics as a special service provider.
HELCO Pharmalogistik has developed as an expert in this field over the years. This has resulted in a Europe-wide, seamless, and GDP-certified logistics network for its customers.

High requirements for the storage of pharmaceuticals

The indoor climate has a direct impact on the quality of medical products. More and more newly approved medicines need to be cooled and monitored to ensure that the required storage and transport conditions are met. This is the only way to ensure consistent quality of temperature-sensitive goods throughout the supply chain.

If pharmaceuticals are kept too warm or undercooled, this can lead to them becoming unusable. This can mean not only financial losses for manufacturers but also considerable health risks. Because insufficiently tempered medicines can lose their effect or even become dangerous for patients.

The logistics company HELCO therefore relies on the highest standards: Air-conditioning and special insulation of the warehouse prevent overheating of the pharmaceutical substances even in high summer temperatures. Trained personnel also ensure that the GDP guidelines are adhered to.

"We decided on solutions from Tec4med because, on the one hand, we see Tec4med as a still dynamic company that lives and breathes temperature mapping and monitoring, especially in the pharmaceutical sector, as a business and is always open to new challenges. On the other hand, we are paying more attention to strong regional companies that are based in the Rhine-Main area."- Nico Claßen, HELCO Managing Director

The Situation: Challenges with standard monitoring devices for warehouses

More than 3,000 Euro pallet storage spaces for temperature-sensitive pharmaceuticals are to be accommodated in the new warehouse, HELCO Pharmalogistik GmbH. In order to operate the storage areas in a GDP-compliant manner for medicines, the company relies on air conditioning between 15°-25° C. In addition, the temperature mapping & monitoring system of Tec4med Lifescience GmbH from Darmstadt is used. With the use of real-time measuring devices, the pharmaceutical logistics company HELCO relies on an intelligent alarm and safety management system that detects sources of error, thus preventing massive costs and, in the interest of the environment, avoiding damage to the pharmaceuticals and the associated waste.

The Solution: Revolutionizing Real-Time Warehouse Monitoring

The staff is supported by Tec4med's real-time monitoring devices. Beacon data loggers were installed on the warehouse shelves at different heights - near the floor, in the middle of the shelves, and near the ceiling. Evenly distributed throughout the warehouse, this allows for optimal coverage. Furthermore, locations such as doors, skylights, and windows, where temperature fluctuations are to be expected, were equipped with additional data loggers. This provides an accurate measurement of temperature and humidity throughout the warehouse and results in a so-called temperature mapping.

SmartHub gateways, located at strategic points in the warehouse, automatically read the beacons and show the current measured data on the display. The system eliminates the need for manual readouts via USB or by manually entering data into lists. This saves both time and considerable costs that can arise from human errors.

The Result: Close cooperation as a success factor

Tec4med works in close cooperation on individual customer projects. By equipping the HELCO warehouse with Tec4med equipment, damage to the stored pharmaceuticals can now be prevented.

"What was particularly good about the cooperation with Tec4med was the response time to questions, the flexibility in implementation, and the desired professional competence. All in all, a very successful and targeted project implementation. We are already looking forward to the next project we have in the pipeline." - Nico Claßen