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Cold Chain of infrastructure is a type of supply chain wherein we maintained it temperature controlled. Usually is it used by our Pharmaceutical , frozen foods such as fish, and meat and dairy products. It is stored at defined temperature depending on the product specifications or requirements. Also during delivery which required refrigerated van to maintain the freshness of the goods.
A cold chain is a temperature-controlled supply chain. An unbroken cold chain is an uninterrupted series of storage and distribution activities which maintain a given temperature range. It is used to help extend and ensure the shelf life of products such as fresh agricultural products, seafood, frozen food, photographic film, chemicals, and pharmaceutical drugs. Such products, during transport and when in transient storage, are called cool cargo. Unlike other goods or merchandise, cold chain goods are perishable and always en route towards end use or destination, even when held temporarily in cold stores and hence commonly referred to as cargo during its entire logistics cycle.
Cold chains are common in the food and pharmaceutical industries and also in some chemical shipments. One common temperature range for a cold chain in pharmaceutical industries is 2 to 8 °C. but the specific temperature (and time at temperature) tolerances depend on the actual product being shipped. Unique to fresh produce cargoes, the cold chain requires to additionally maintain product specific environment parameters which include air quality levels (carbon dioxide, oxygen, humidity and others), which makes this the most complicated cold chain to operate.
This is important in the supply of vaccines to distant clinics in hot climates served by poorly developed transport networks. There have been numerous events where vaccines have been shipped to third world countries with little to no cold chain infrastructure (Sub-Sahara Africa) where the vaccines were inactivated due to excess exposure to heat.Patients that thought they were being immunized, in reality were put at greater risk due to the inactivated vaccines they received. Thus great attention is now being paid to the entire cold chain distribution process to ensure that simple diseases can eventually be eradicated from society.
Traditionally all historical stability data developed for vaccines was based on the temperature range of 2–8 °C. With recent development of biological products by former vaccine developers, biologics has fallen into the same category of storage at 2–8 °C due to the nature of the products and the lack of testing these products at wider storage conditions.
The cold chain distribution process is an extension of the good manufacturing practice (GMP) environment that all drugs and biological products are required to adhere to, enforced by the various health regulatory bodies. As such, the distribution process must be validated to ensure that there is no negative impact to the safety, efficacy or quality of the drug substance. The GMP environment requires that all processes that might impact the safety, efficacy or quality of the drug substance must be validated, including storage and distribution of the drug substance.
A cold chain can be managed by a quality management system. It should be analyzed, measured, controlled, documented, and validated.
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Cold chain supply management is wholly dependent on the quality of the infrastructure system in place. The cold chain market can be divided into two main types: refrigerated storage and refrigerated transport; the two major product types are chilled products or frozen products. The products and industries that rely on effective and efficient cold chain management include fresh fruits and vegetables, bakery and confectionary, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, diary and frozen desserts, and fresh meats, fish, and seafood. All of these products must be transported from their original sites (farms, laboratories, wholesale producers) to the end-user (stores, warehouses, restaurants, hospitals, etc.). The ultimate goal for cold chain management is to deliver perishable foods, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals in a timely fashion while maintaining the quality of the products and increasing their shelf life.
There are five major components of the infrastructure for cold chain supply management: 1) the precooking facilities, 2) refrigerated storage facilities, 3) refrigerated transport options, 4) packaging, and 5) information systems. The successful integration of all of these infrastructure elements is necessary for an effective cold chain management system that helps to reduce food loss, balance supply and demand, and improves food and pharmaceutical safety and quality. The growth in the cold chain management industry has mirrored the growth in globalization, which has allowed for larger imports and exports of perishable foods, advance in technology for management of refrigerated storage and transport, the growing preference for frozen foods, and the expanding need to reduce food loss in emerging markets and economies.
Inefficient infrastructure is the greatest challenge to the cold chain management industry. Effective management of the logistics at every “stop” of the chain is imperative for the success of the entire process:
A deficiency at any point along the pipeline affects the process of every other point. A successful cold chain management system is able to ensure the viability of the entire logistical infrastructure.
The Cold chain infrastructure is a chain of cold storage plus a fleet of refrigerated trucks/cold box placed at strategic point for movement of medicine or food throughout the country for consumption.
Example: There are some medicines which must be stored at particular cold temperature as per manufacturer’s instructions. These are produced and kept at manufacturer premises in cold storage and then transferred to district/sub zonal-level through refrigerated truck and again placed in refrigerated warehouse/big refrigerator. From there, these medicines are transferred in “Cold Box” to further remote areas and then again placed in specific small refrigerator. From this point the, the medicines are sold for immediate use. This process could be also for food items like ice creams and other food items.
A cold chain is a temperature-controlled supply chain. An unbroken cold chain is an uninterrupted series of storage and distribution activities which maintain a given temperature range. It is used to help extend and ensure the shelf life of products such as fresh agricultural produce, seafood, frozen food, photographic film, chemicals, and pharmaceutical drugs. Such products, during transport and when in transient storage, are called cool cargo. Unlike other goods or merchandise, cold chain goods are perishable and always en route towards end use or destination, even when held temporarily in cold stores and hence commonly referred to as cargo during its entire logistics cycle.
I fully agree with the answers been added by EXPERTS........Thanks.
