Sense of control: humidity and temperature

Under ever-growing pressure to maximise output and ensure product quality, manufacturers are seeking out new technology to help monitor critical process conditions such as humidity and temperature in their facilities.

A recent survey conducted by the manufacturers’ organisation EEF revealed more than 50% of UK manufacturers expect productivity to grow this year, while 41% said they were going to focus more keenly on investing in innovation and technology.

“Controlling and monitoring temperature and humidity at a manufacturing facility is a huge task,” says Warren Mansfield- Smith, sales unit manager of Food and Drugs at Testo, which supplies instrumentation to a number of sectors.

Controlling and monitoring temperature and humidity at a manufacturing facility is a huge task

Warren Mansfield- Smith, sales unit manager, Food and Drugs, Testo

He says that if manufacturers fail to monitor temperature and humidity adequately, they risk sending out low-quality product that would have to be discarded.

“The cost of waste would be phenomenal,” Mansfield-Smith says.

To safeguard against this, monitoring technology is increasingly being combined with humidity and temperature control units to help verify whether specific control thresholds – typically set before production starts – are being maintained.

“Essentially, humidity and temperature monitoring technology is used to confirm that control technology is working as it is supposed to,” Mansfield-Smith says.

The necessity to control product quality in this manner is due largely to the strict regulations manufacturers must follow.

In the UK pharmaceutical industry, for example, manufacturers must adhere to Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) guidelines.

The storage of pharmaceutical products is a major industry and the conditions in which those products are kept are heavily regulated, says Mansfield-Smith.

“MHRA requirements say you must store product at certain temperatures…that’s an area where humidity and temperature monitoring technology is extremely vital,” he says.

Essentially, humidity and temperature monitoring technology is used to confirm that control technology is working as it is supposed to

Meanwhile, throughout much of the engineering industry there is a move toward the collection and analysis of data to help control and improve processes.

Humidity and temperature monitoring systems, such as those developed by Testo, have the capability to automatically generate PDF reports and compile data for due diligence, and for regulatory compliance.

However, in many industries there is only a small amount of data that must be stored, says Mansfield-Smith.

“If you set control parameters correctly and you have set your alarms from a wireless monitoring system that can send you an alert via SMS or email, you only then have to look at the data when you have an exception or an alert,” he says.

Jarkko Ruonala, product manager for industrial humidity, moisture in oil and dew point products at Finnish measurement firm Vaisala, says within pharmaceuticals, the onus is on manufacturers to prove without any doubt that their manufacturing chain has followed all regulatory conditions at all times.

Vaisala, which manufacturers humidity and temperature monitoring instruments, has developed a data logger range with built-in temperature and humidity capabilities that generate a continuous data flow for manufacturers.

“If that data flow were interrupted, it could have very severe consequences because a manufacturer could lose thousands of pounds worth of product just because he has a black spot in the data,” Ruonala says.

This would mean a manufacturer could not prove that the entire product manufacturing phase of his operation was conducted under appropriate conditions, Ruonala adds.

Remote access

According to Ruonala, the Vaisala solution prevents the possible black spots in data records by providing redundancy in data storage and power supply of the loggers, and encryption and protection of the records database.

However, it is not just the pharmaceuticals industry that must follow strict regulations, Ruonala points out, but also critical manufacturing of equipment in sectors such as nuclear, which are subject to tight regulations on process and logistic chain conditions.

Here, humidity and temperature monitoring equipment has a major role to play in the regulated manufacturing of products, and must remain in good working order.

Humidity measurement instrumentation firm Rotronic Instruments says most of its measurement instrumentation is manufactured to GAMP5 – for good automated manufacturing practice – and its software is validated to FDA 21 CFR part 11 electronic records tracking regulations.

Rotronic Instruments also has UKAS/ ISO 17025 accreditation with low measurement uncertainties for temperature, humidity and dew point calibration performed in its purpose-built laboratory, says Chris Fox, the company’s sales and marketing manager.

Anticipating the trend, we have developed measurement products that can be added to a network, with measurements accessed remotely from any location on a PC, smartphone or tablet with internet access

Chris Fox, sales and marketing manager, Rotronic Instruments

“There is an increasing understanding from customers that sensors need to be calibrated at multiple points across the working range of the probe,” Fox says.

“It is even possible to perform a calibration automatically and remotely.”

While remote calibration technology has been well received, Fox says the company is yet to see significant customer demand for smartphone or tablet-based monitoring systems using its sensors.

“However, anticipating the trend, we have developed measurement products that can be added to a network, with measurements accessed remotely from any location on a PC, smartphone or tablet with internet access,” he adds.

Mansfield-Smith predicts that remote access technologies will allow companies to become far more productive, with a wide range of instruments on the market already enabled for remote access.

He says it is now possible to buy a temperature monitoring system for less than £100, which can be accessed from virtually anywhere.

Testo’s own range of ‘smart probes’ can be connected to a smartphone or tablet device via Bluetooth, with probes that can then be operated through the company’s smart probes app.

“Though it still remains good practice to go round and visually check for issues, using technology to make life easier and to draw attention to several areas at once – where there is a risk of temperature and humidity fluctuation – is a no-brainer,” says Mansfield-Smith. “It’s a low-cost insurance policy.”