Evaluating Packaging Performance

Proof, not assumption

Packaging that looks right on paper still has to prove itself. To ensure compliance and product protection, cold chain packaging should be evaluated with laboratory testing that simulates the real-world temperature challenges of its intended route.

The standards that guide testing

Industry standards give these evaluations structure and credibility. PDA Technical Report 39 and ASTM procedures are widely used to define how thermal packaging should be qualified, so that results mean the same thing across teams, suppliers, and regulators.

What a rigorous evaluation involves

• Triplicate testing under both worst-case and best-case conditions, so results reflect repeatable performance rather than a single lucky run.
• Seasonal simulations of both summer and winter temperature profiles, since a shipper that passes in one season may fail in the other.
• Load scenarios covering both maximum and minimum payloads, an under-filled shipper behaves differently than a full one.

Qualification does not end in the lab

Laboratory results establish that a solution can perform. Keeping it performing is an ongoing discipline. Performance Qualifications (PQ) and monitoring technologies should be used throughout the shipping process to validate that the cold chain is working in practice, not just in theory.

Data loggers and monitoring devices turn each shipment into evidence: proof of what actually happened inside the box, and an early warning when a lane or a season starts behaving differently than expected.

Why it is worth the effort

Testing is what separates a package that you hope will work from one you can stand behind. It protects patients, satisfies regulators, and gives your team the confidence to commit to demanding routes.

Inmark Life Science supports customers through qualification and testing so that packaging decisions rest on data.