When temperature and humidity make perfect partners
In many sectors, optimal product preservation depends on temperature and humidity conditions. A field where precision and reliability are crucial. The benefits are found as much in avoiding losses as in energy savings.
Matthieu Hoffstetter
01 — The challenge
When transporting goods and merchandise, maintaining stable temperature and humidity conditions is often a critical factor. For the long-distance transport of food, pharmaceuticals, fragile materials, or even works of art, ensuring that conditions remain optimal is essential. This sometimes leads those responsible for transport to take precautions against any deterioration — not to mention the risk of waste should the transported goods be damaged.
02 — The sectors
The sectors affected are extremely numerous, starting with all companies involved in the transport of goods and merchandise, such as logistics operators. But they also include locations where humidity and temperature must remain constantly under control: from market gardeners' greenhouses to museum galleries, pharmaceutical laboratories, hospitals, and even supermarkets.
03 — The gains
Sensors and measurement solutions now make it possible to fine-tune energy expenditure while avoiding losses and waste in the event of prolonged disruption to temperature and humidity conditions. Antoine Lorotte, CEO of the Vaud SME FiveCo, which deployed the THEye sensors, describes "a module that is more expensive than the competition, but with a more economical server management model" — and therefore "a return on investment that will be visible from the first few months." In his view, "over a year, with a fleet of a thousand THEye sensors, there will be a gain of close to 50%" thanks to "an internally managed infrastructure."
04 — The example
In the United States, a supermarket chain adopted the Rotronic solution. To balance customer comfort, the preservation of various types of food, and energy expenditure, it was established that refrigerators operate most efficiently at a dew point (the combination of temperature and humidity) of 10 °C. By doing so, the supermarkets were able to adjust their air conditioning systems and reduce both greenhouse gas emissions and energy costs.
05 — The solutions
With THEye, the Vaud SME FiveCo bet on its in-house talent. Wanting a product that would showcase its teams' expertise, CEO Antoine Lorotte supported the development of these sensors. Client feedback proved so enthusiastic that what began as a trial balloon became a genuine product on which the company is now staking its future. "Our sensors are the size of a two-franc coin and work with a mini-battery and Bluetooth to record temperature and humidity data," explains Antoine Lorotte. Encrypted from the outset, the data is accessible only to the client, who benefits from a tailored service with an ISO17025-compliant solution — the standard required by the pharmaceutical industry.
The pharmaceutical industry is one of the core sectors for Rotronic, a company founded in 1965 and based in Bassersdorf (ZH). "Data integrity is crucial: you cannot define product quality if data is missing, and the client would be forced to destroy medications," warns James Pickering, head of real-time measurement systems at Rotronic. Loggers equipped with probes measure temperature and humidity in real time and transmit the data either to the user's internal servers or to a cloud platform. Should readings fall outside the permitted range, an alert can be triggered to prevent any compromise to the quality of the monitored products.
