Amethyst Group Ltd is a leader in the provision of third party warehousing and distribution services. With over 30 years of supply chain expertise, Amethyst Group operates 650,000 square feet of shared user warehousing.
Amethyst was approached by one of the fastest growing generic pharmaceutical suppliers in Europe in its search for an experienced logistics provider. The pharmaceutical supplier required a storage facility that would meet the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) approved standards.
To achieve this, Amethyst needed a designated zone within one of its shared warehouses that would provide the right conditions. After identifying the 18 bay warehouse that would be used to store the pharmaceutical products, the right measures needed to be taken to ensure compliant conditions.
Amethyst knew that a vital part of ensuring its facility was adhering to MHRA standards relied on getting the right temperature control solution in place.
- Client
The Solution
Seeking an experienced HVAC company, Amethyst approached approved EcoCooling installer, Celsius Design. Celsius’s knowledgeable team worked with Amethyst to design a suitable heating and cooling system. Understanding the importance of keeping temperatures stable, an electronic mapping system with internet access was included as part of the design. This would provide those responsible for temperature moderation with email alerts if the temperature was edging outside of the required boundaries.
Getting the right cooling system in place was imperative, as in previous years the warehouse had regularly had extended temperatures above 35C at high levels. The regulations state that maximum temperatures should be below 25C, so it was clear a new, more effective system was needed.
The decision was made to install nine wall mounted EcoCooling units ducted into the aisles of the warehouse. These were supplemented with a further three wall mounted units to cool the personnel in the despatch area. The whole system was balanced by the installation of 12 wall mounted high level extractors.
EcoCooling units were chosen as they are designed to cool large spaces effectively, without the high costs associated with traditional air conditioning. The coolers were also able to be programmed into the temperature mapping system so reports could be created to monitor the conditions.
The Result
An effective system was installed that enables Amethyst to offer the pharmaceutical supplier a fully MHRA compliant environment for the storage of its products. The warehouse now holds several thousand pallets of products and has enabled Amethyst to open up its facility to a new sector.
“The installation of the system was excellent, with the full heating and cooling system fitted with no disruption to the Warehouse. Since then it has kept us within spec even during the warmest summer weather. Celsius now service the systems and keep it all functioning perfectly.”
Mark Cappell
Warehouse Manager, Amethyst Group
