Bullet-proof environmental monitoring technology that answers auditors’ questions.

McKesson Corporation, currently ranked 5th on the FORTUNE 500, is a global leader in supply chain management. Named “Most Admired Company” in the healthcare wholesaler category by FORTUNE, McKesson has a reputation as a trusted wholesale distributor and 3rd Party logistics (3PL) provider. McKesson Specialty Health (MSH) is a division of McKesson Corporation that provides integrated technology systems, unites independent providers with manufacturers and payers, and delivers technologically innovative methods of distributing high-value healthcare products.  

MSH focuses on drugs and biotechnology for complex diseases, serving the commercialization and logistics needs of specialty physicians like oncologists and rheumatologists, as well as pharmaceutical and biotechnology manufacturers. Since 2006 MSH has partnered with a nation-wide vaccination program that serves approximately 1.8 million uninsured and underinsured children. This program is one of the largest national partnerships of its kind, through which McKesson now distributes more than 80 million vaccinations to over 40 thousand providers each year.

One of the ways MSH became a world-class logistics provider was by focusing on facilities management and maintenance, design engineering tailored to GxP regulatory requirements, and extensive system installations, validation, and expansions. McKesson’s 3PL model goes beyond storage and shipping to provide a package of services based on robust reporting, elite information technology systems, and customized logistic solutions. 

One of the people helping lead the MSH distribution team is Timothy Phelps, Facilities Engineering Manager-Specialty Distribution.

Since installing Vaisala’s viewLinc environmental monitoring system in all three of the facilities he manages, Phelps and his team have experienced a more efficient audit process. “Now we find more companies wanting to partner with us after we walk them through our processes, show our data, the alarming functionality, our validation master plan and other quality documentation,” said Phelps.

“We will sit down in front of a 34-inch monitor, open viewLinc  and go through every single environment we have, drilling down into data along the way, checking trends in real-time, or for any historical period. Our auditors – who range from state and federal regulatory bodies, to large drug manufacturers – are always impressed.”

Showing the reports, the raw data, and the live interface of viewLinc is now a standard part of the audit process for McKesson Specialty Health. “Not only does it make the audit process efficient, the transparency goes a long way toward building confidence in potential and existing customers,” said Phelps.

“They can trust that we are going to take care of their product because we give them the evidence.”  With audits and customer visits happening on a near-weekly basis, streamlining the audit process is crucial for MSH operations. 

Using viewLinc and other systems, MSH provides auditors with an information package that includes raw temperature data, reports, MKT over a given period, and other information in anticipation of both standard and in-depth questions.  

“In the last three years we’ve had zero findings with regard to temperature and environmental related items,” said Phelps. "These days, we can do an entire environmental audit in about four hours.” 

Zero findings in audits provides significant savings on overhead and resources. Phelps said that the reliability of an environmental monitoring system is also important. Not only is the product portfolio of McKesson incredibly valuable, local climate conditions can be a challenge. 

For example, in Memphis the humidity can fluctuate from 35% to 90% and the controlled temperature environments range from -80°C to 22°C. Humidity sensors that are reliable, accurate and stable are required to maintain monitoring performance. Proactive notification of out-of-specification conditions prevents product loss or adulteration.

“There are many advantages to maintaining systems that are extremely robust,” said Phelps. “Efficient audits, the trust of our customers, and a strong operational model. But most importantly, the products we handle – including oncology drugs, and complex care items like plasma products, which hospitals can’t keep on-hand – demand reliable technology  designed for GxP compliance.” 

The McKesson Specialty Health Memphis distribution facility alone ships to 70,000 points of delivery including other wholesalers, clinics, doctors’ offices, hospitals, and pharmacies. “With all those products going to end-users, our temperature and humidity monitoring has to be technologically rigorous,” said Phelps.

“After years of working with the system, generating the kind of reports that make auditors happy, we’ve found Vaisala’s viewLinc monitoring system to be bullet-proof.” Timothy Phelps

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Vaisala will be contributing humidity, temperature, and carbon dioxide measurement instruments to the new children’s hospital to be constructed in Helsinki, Finland in 2017. The equipment is valued at an estimated 225,000 euro and will be integrated into the hospital’s building automation solution.

“This project is a very valuable one for Finnish wellbeing, as well as for the future. We at Vaisala are delighted and proud to join in the effort to help build the world’s best children’s hospital. In a hospital environment, good indoor air quality is an obvious and fundamental requirement for both patients and staff, helping to ensure high quality care and a safe working environment,” says Vaisala President and CEO Kjell Forsén.

Vaisala’s measurement equipment will provide data to control the central heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system in the building. These instruments will gather data on temperature, carbon dioxide, and relative humidity. The information will be used to adjust ventilation intensity to meet actual ambient conditions and requirements, which changes based on the number of people in a particular area. This also helps to ensure that indoor air quality is optimized, further improving the overall energy efficiency of the building.

World’s Best Children’s Hospital

The new children’s hospital has created a lot of publicity from the start due to the lack of public financing. The project is co-funded by public and private parties, both companies and private citizens alike. The hospital is scheduled to open in 2017 and is expected to cost 160 million euros. The new hospital will treat seriously ill children from across Finland.
Many Finnish companies have donated either money or products for the hospital. Vaisala is an honorary in-kind donator and will make the actual donation at a later stage agreed together with the contractor and when the construction is at the stage when Vaisala can step in.

“The new children’s hospital is being designed and constructed in accordance with a dozen select and measurable criteria. In addition to medical processes, the child’s and family’s experience in the hospital are at the core of this project. Other important factors include the hospital as a work environment, its reliability, safety, and energy efficiency. Vaisala’s contribution brings the industry-leading, state-of-the-art technology to the children’s hospital, which will help us reach our target, to build the world’s best children’s hospital,” commends Chairman of the Board of the New Children’s Hospital 2017 Foundation, Anne Berner.

NASA's Curiosity Rover uncovers liquid brine conditions on Martian surface

The first evidence of liquid water on Mars was announced in May 2015. These findings were based on the atmospheric observations by Curiosity Rover. The Rover continues its work on Mars with Vaisala pressure and humidity sensor technology onboard.

NASA's Curiosity Rover has performed surface measurements around the Gale crater near the Martian equator for more than two years. The rover features pressure and humidity devices designed to observe the Martian atmosphere that has been developed by the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI). The Rover Environmental Monitoring Station (REMS) instrument suite, as well as the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) and Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons (DAN) instruments have made it possible to assess that, during night time perchlorate salts on the upper layer of the Martian surface are able to absorb sufficient moisture to form a brine solution, even if the temperature is well below zero degrees Celsius.

The humidity device REMS-H and pressure device REMS-P have been developed by FMI and are based on Vaisala's sensor components. Vaisala has equipped the FMI devices onboard the rover with standard Vaisala HUMICAP® humidity sensors and specially customized Vaisala BAROCAP® pressure sensors. Thanks to the long-term stability and accuracy of these sensors, as well as their ability to tolerate dust, chemicals, and harsh environmental conditions, the technologies are especially suitable for such demanding applications.

Uncovering Martian secrets

Compared to Earth, Mars is a dry planet. However, there have been observations of small amounts of water in the atmosphere in the past, though never in liquid form. Martian surface temperatures vary during the night from -135 to -70 °C and the Martian top surface layer along its equator achieves plus degree temperatures during the day time. Considering the temperature and low pressure of the atmosphere on Mars, it has been estimated that liquid water could not be present on Mars.

Now, NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) and the observations it has carried out by the Gale crater and specifically based on the measurements made by FMI and Vaisala technology, together combined with numerical models, have demonstrated otherwise.

"In the Martian atmosphere, below the surface layer at a few centimeters depth, lie sufficient quantities of perchlorate salts, which are able to absorb water from the atmosphere. The result is a thin membranous salt-water solution, or pockets of liquid with salt content, that form during the night – despite the fact that the water film temperature is well below freezing," Head of Research at FMI, Ari-Matti Harri, states. "During the day, the surface layer temperature rises, and this causes the liquid accumulated during the night to evaporate as gas. It is important to note that these findings do not yet conclude the possible existence of organic compounds on Mars." However, it can be assumed that the observed area along the Gale crater is representative of conditions throughout the Martian surface.

The ultimate laboratory for atmosphere research

The atmospheres of Mars and Earth have similar dynamics, because of the axial tilt of the planets' rotation axes (25° Mars and 23,5° Earth), as well as the rotation times, meaning the length of the day (a Martian day is 24 hours and 37 minutes), are very close to each other. The dry Martian atmosphere represents a simplified laboratory model of the Earth's atmosphere. "By studying the simplified, dynamically Earth-like, atmosphere we can potentially learn something that we might miss on Earth because of the effects of water systems, vegetation, and high humidity levels," Ari-Matti Harri concludes.

NASA's quest to 'follow the water' has resulted in the strongest evidence yet; that liquid water flows intermittently on present-day Mars. Learn more on the latest discovery at: http://go.nasa.gov/1KOrJsv

Environmental test chambers - investigating product durability

Arctest is a Finnish company that develops environmental test chambers and rooms for companies and research organizations. Product durability and quality is tested in Arctest’s chambers, which can simulate a variety of demanding environmental conditions. Arctest was established in by two test chamber experts who understood that the durability and reliability of some products was not an accidental by-product but a sought-after feature. “Before environmental test chambers became available, people used to test products using very creative methods. For example, they would stuff electronic devices in ovens, freezers and even saunas to create demanding environments,” says Sales Manager and Board Director Pentti Kouhio from Arctest.

Creating different testing environments

Arctest’s chambers are mainly used in Scandinavian countries, but deliveries have been made all over the world, from Germany to Botswana. Test chambers and rooms are tailor-made to meet customer requirements. The design and construction of the chambers is time-consuming and precise work.  They need to be extremely durable, stable and reliable during long tests, and modifiable for different testing requirements. The customer decides what kind of space and test conditions they require, and Arctest builds and delivers the full package. Chamber sizes vary between 50 and 2,000 liters, and room sizes from a few square meters to over 100 m².  The adjustable features can include many different variables depending on customer needs, for example temperature, humidity, light, carbon dioxide, wind, rain, radiation, gas and pressure. Temperature conditions can be simulated between – 70 C and + 180C. The conditions in the chambers are controlled with software and the changes in the conditions can be viewed on a computer either graphically or numerically.

From mobile phones to medicines and more

Many different products are tested in Arctest’s chambers. “Mobile phones are a good example.  They can be left inside a car on the dashboard on a very hot summer’s day, or accidentally dropped in snow.  They need to endure it all.  The pharmaceutical industry is a growing business for us as they are faced with very strict storage regulations. Arctic clothing s also tested in our chambers. We have even helped build extreme cold rooms for healthcare purposes; for example, some people with rheumatism or asthma  and that a couple of minutes in a room at -110 C significantly reduces their symptoms. Athletes also use them for recovering from demanding physical strain,”Kouhio explains. The health benefits of this kind of “cold care” are based on the shock that extreme cold causes in the central nervous system. The shock launches many physiological changes, which have a beneficial impact on many pains and symptoms, and also improve the immune system.

Vaisala’s sensors have proved durable and reliable

Arctest uses the Vaisala ® Humidity and Temperature Transmitter Series in its chambers.  The sensors are particularly designed for demanding industrial applications where
stable measurement and wide customization is important. “Vaisala’s sensors are durable and reliable, and the availability is good. We have trusted in Vaisala since the

beginning of our operations, and the cooperation works very well. Vaisala also uses our chambers to test their own products, as quality and durability are extremely
important to them,” Kouhio says.

The article was first published in Vaisala News 177 / 2008.