Monitoring the cold chain plays a crucial role in proving the efficacy of a drug and in patient safety. The top priority is always to eliminate or at least minimize any risk to patients through strict compliance with the manufacturer's specifications and the guidelines set by the various authorities.

Monitoring of these conditions throughout transport is required by law (GDP compliance) and must be traceable throughout the cold chain.

Environmental monitoring systems typically consist of sensors or probes that measure temperature or other environmental conditions at a specified interval. The sensor transmits the values to a data logger, which acts as a data storage and communication bridge, and sends the data automatically or manually to a database system. The central database solution then performs automatic tasks such as data storage and evaluation, warning and alarming, visualization, evaluation and analysis.
Modern, validated monitoring systems function largely automatically and manual tasks are reduced to a minimum.