COLD STORES FANS


cellular performance. Under such conditions, communications resilience becomes part of storage resilience. If the unit cannot reliably report alarm states, power events, or temperature trends, the site’s response capability is weakened even if refrigeration performance remains nominal.


Calibration, verifi cation, and certifi cation From a quality perspective, calibration, verifi cation, and certifi cation are central to acceptance of temporary storage in pharmaceutical environments. Temperature mapping and the documented proof of performance it provides are often as important as the technical specifi cation itself. In practical terms, Good Distribution Practice (GDP)


qualifi cation and certifi cation are often the clearest third-party proof point available to support customer confi dence and should be a meaningful benchmark when assessing whether a temporary storage solution is suitable for controlled-temperature pharmaceutical use. GDP-related qualifi cation supports confi dence in


industrial or commercial applications, the operating question is not only whether the unit can achieve setpoint, but how the product remains protected if a refrigeration circuit fails, if power is interrupted, or if a service intervention is required. That is why higher-specifi cation pharmaceutical cold stores may incorporate two complete and independent refrigeration systems. Each system operates with its own control logic, allowing one system to assume duty if the other develops a fault. In more advanced confi gurations, automatic alarm generation and automatic changeover to the backup system are integral to the design. Power resilience is equally important. Depending on the criticality of the application, temporary cold store solutions may also be supported by built-in generator sets, stand-alone gensets, or battery power solutions to maintain operation during site power loss or wider electrical disruption. Taken together, dual refrigeration and backup


power options reduce dependence not only on a single refrigeration train, but also on a single power source. For high-value products, this is not a convenience feature; it is a resilience measure designed to reduce the probability of product loss from equipment failure, utility interruption, or other single-point events. In that context, the additional protection is often far more important than the marginal cost diff erence between standard and higher-specifi cation temporary storage solutions. For highly regulated pharmaceutical storage, temperature control performance must be defi ned


in engineering terms, within tight tolerances, rather than described generically. Cold stores featuring proven and dependable


refrigeration technologies like Thermo King and Klinge can maintain tolerances of at least ±0.25°C in chill mode, and ±1.0°C in frozen mode. These tolerances matter because pharmaceutical users are not simply evaluating whether a unit cools adequately; they are assessing whether it can maintain a stable control band appropriate for sensitive materials and closely monitored storage conditions.


This is particularly important where the stored


product is susceptible to degradation, where temperature records may be reviewed retrospectively, or where temporary storage is being used in support of a quality-critical activity. In such settings, stability, repeatability, and predictable control response are more important than nominal setpoint alone. However, in pharmaceutical storage, control without visibility is insuffi cient.


Continuous monitoring capability should


provide real-time visibility of internal temperature performance, deviation alarms, power loss notifi cations, alarm history, and access to historical temperature data for review. A robust temporary cold store solution may use 4G telematics as the primary communications layer, with Wi-Fi modem options available where mobile coverage is poor or unreliable. This is operationally important because many pharmaceutical campuses, yard locations, and remote industrial sites do not off er consistent


Download the ACR News app today


temperature stability, operational consistency, and performance under defi ned ambient conditions. It also aligns with the broader expectation in pharma that temperature-controlled equipment should be supported by objective evidence rather than vendor assertion alone. A temporary cold store may be well specifi ed, but in practice its real performance depends heavily on the provider’s service model. In pharmaceutical use, the right solution provider is the one that can react quickly and eff ectively when something occurs, with service teams located nearby, technicians on standby, and the ability to intervene rapidly on both standard and specialist units. This is not a secondary consideration. For high-value pharmaceutical cargo, the speed and competence of service response can materially aff ect the outcome of a fault event. The relevant question is not merely whether the provider can supply the unit, but whether they can sustain and support it under fault conditions with the urgency that pharmaceutical operations require. Pharmaceutical operators do not typically evaluate


temporary cold stores on rental price alone. The more meaningful calculation is the relationship between cost of hire and the potential cost of failure. A single temperature excursion may result in product loss, batch rejection, deviation investigation, delayed release, interrupted manufacturing, or supply disruption.


In that context, temporary cold stores are engineered resilience assets. They are deployed to maintain continuity during maintenance, support- controlled testing, provide temporary additional capacity, and protect high-value product when permanent infrastructure is unavailable or at risk.


www.acr-news.com • July 2026 25


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40