Envirotainer advances temperature-controlled shipping containers to provide vaccines around the world – with consistency and predictability

Unique airflow system, integrated data-loggers, validated temperature data, live monitoring, and proven heating/cooling and insulation technology.

 Releye® RLP innovations:

– Homogeneous conditions and redundant temperature control
– Live monitoring of position, conditions, power, and handling
– Autonomous operation reduces the impact of process deviation, unexpected delays, or change of route
– Volume efficiency with high load height and advanced airflow technology
– Outstanding environmental performance with up to 90% reduction in CO2 emissions compared to available passive solutions

Founded in 1985, Envirotainer is the global leader in secure cold chain solutions for air transport of pharmaceuticals and biotechnology. Today, Envirotainer’s air cargo transport systems, with more than 6,300 containers, allow global pharmaceutical and logistics companies to safely deliver temperature-controlled products all over the world.

In May of 2021, as recently authorized COVID-19 vaccine shipments were increasing, Envirotainer launched an innovative new shipping container. The newest addition to an already proven product line of temperature-controlled air cargo containers and the first of its kind, the Releye® RLP container, is now revolutionizing how drugs and vaccines are shipped.

Envirotainer’s Senior Product Manager Bachar Chadaideh was involved in the development of the new containers. “Along with analyzing market trends, we conducted a large study involving the major stakeholders, including pharmaceutical companies, airlines, forwarders, and regulatory agencies to define needs, both current and emerging. Our analysis identified five clear needs for shipping containers that were either not currently met, or not fully optimized,” says Chadaideh. “Based on the market needs, and our 30 plus years of experience in this field, The Releye® RLP was designed to maintain precise temperature control, being fully redundant, remotely monitored, with unsurpassed autonomous operation, while being cost-efficient and a driver for sustainable temperature-controlled shipment.”

Controlled conditions in any climate

Temperature control in shipping containers requires the ability to manage extreme temperatures in any climate. The foundation of temperature-controlled shipping is accurate measurements with sensors that maintain their accuracy over time. In other words, highly stable sensors. Due to frequent maintenance, shipping containers have a long lifespan, often over a decade, so they must be reliable over time.

Global qualification

Another feature of the Releye® RLP is that it is designed for global qualification. An operator can qualify the container for shipping anywhere in the world and expand quickly to different trade lanes and locations. The Releye® RLP can be qualified for all the trade lanes, saving on costs and reducing time spent qualifying shipping containers. The detailed performance and process data also serves as an efficient and accurate tool to follow up and improve logistical processes. Live access to shipping data during the shipment is also helpful in cases where, for example, customs requests data.

Efficiency & sustainability

The Releye® RLP is in the middle range of size within Envirotainer’s wide selection of shipping solutions. It provides volume-efficiency in two ways; First, its industry-leading height of 132 cm, can be fully utilized. Second, the unique volume footprint provides the space of two 1-pallet capacity solutions, but allows three Euro-pallets to be loaded. The result is a 50% increase of product that can be loaded. “The addition of a 3-pallet solution provides flexibility to our portfolio, which now includes 1, 3, and 5-pallet solutions. This allows any shipment to be optimized by combining container sizes,” says Chadaideh. “With more product in the container, the use of aircraft space is made highly efficient, which is good from both a cost and sustainability perspective.”

Partners in global solutions

Vaisala and Envirotainer cooperated at many levels to ensure the Releye® RLP would fulfill high expectations; from sensors, to shipping certificates, to sales support. Vaisala sales manager Janne Halonen worked closely with the Envirotainer team to provide the ideal measurement solution for the new containers.

“Envirotainer is very similar to Vaisala – they have high demands on their products like we have on our sensors,” says Halonen. “I’m proud that we were able to support the development of these innovative new containers to deliver critical temperature-controlled products, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, where vaccines are needed globally, quickly and safely.”