Shipping container blends security, tracking and environmental monitoring

Transportation security specialist BioLOGIS has launched a new smart shipping container that provides cargo security with shipment tracking and environmental monitoring.

The system can detect tampering and rough treatment, as well as temperature and humidity fluctuations.

BioLOGIS - a division of US company Hi-G-Tek set up last year (see Start-up BioLOGIS ties cargo security to environmental monitoring) - says that the container addresses the growing need for security, monitoring and chain of custody documentation in the pharmaceutical sector.

"Security is definitely a major part of this solution," said Keith Nalepka, vice president for business development at Hi-G-Tek.

"It’s the only complete system that integrates active, real-time monitoring and security," he told SecuringPharma. "Our wireless sensors monitor temperature and humidity in real time and our electronic lock detects open close/tamper in real time."

The system provides immediate information on a possible theft, with an on-board GPS providing tracking of the container and the location of open/close events. BioLOGIS can track trucks on specific routes, generate real-time alerts and mesh them with the environmental monitoring data.

"The system meshes the environmental and security components into one system, which is what our customers told us they wanted," said Nalepka.

The integrated systems means that clients do not need to obtain security devices from one company, temperature probes from another then have to cobble them together to get data, he added. A software system collects this data and puts it in a user friendly format to meet the demands of a supply chain audit.

The system also provides 10 days of 2-8 degrees shipping using regular ice, according to Nalepka.

"This technology provides valuable transparency into the supply chain and provides added security that government entities are poised to regulate in depth," he said.