Are You Into Shipping Consumer Goods? How To Choose the Right Temperature Indicators For Your Packaging

You know your materials or products are sensitive to temperature, and you know you need some method of tracking temperature exposure during shipment. Congratulations! You are two big steps ahead of many business leaders, who tend to be clueless about the effect temperature can have on their shipped goods.

Now, your current task is to choose the best temperature indicators for your packaging. Here is a guide to help you make the best decision for all your shipments, present and future, to ensure your goods stay as safe as possible as they travel from here to there.

The Basics of Temperature Indicator Labels

A temperature indicator label is a simple tool that provides invaluable information about your packages as they travel in shipping containers and remain stored in warehouses. As the name suggests, temperature indicators monitor the temperature of the environment around a package or product, which helps business leaders determine whether a product is safe to use or not. Most often, temperature indicators are used with highly temperature-sensitive goods, like pharmaceuticals, chemicals, and fresh produce, but any product that can be affected by extreme temperatures can benefit from a temperature indicator label.

Easy to use and cost-effective, these labels usually adhere to the outside of product packaging, just like other shipping labels. However, some temperature indicator devices can travel inside packaging with shipped goods or stick to the walls or doors of a shipping or storage container. Most temperature indicators work within a specific threshold of temperature, for example, SpotSee Cold Chain technologies come in four different labels with different sensitivities. Some temperature indicators are triggered when temperatures rise above the threshold; others are triggered when temperatures drop; and some signal changes of temperature in both directions.

How Temperature Indicator Labels Work

Most temperature indicator labels work via thermochromic substances printed onto them in specific areas. Thermochromic substances are materials that change color in response to temperature changes. The most common thermochromic substances used in temperature indicator labels are leuco dyes, thermochromic liquid crystals, and chemical indicators, with the latter group being most common of all thanks to their low cost and accessibility.

When temperatures change beyond a certain range, the thermochromic substance used will shift in structure in some way — perhaps melting into another chemical — and change in color. The color change in response to temperature tends to be permanent, so shippers and carriers can determine whether their freight ever experienced an inappropriate temperature during transit or storage. Thus, temperature indicator labels are crucial to help recipients determine whether to accept or reject the delivery of sensitive goods.

Types of Temperature Indicator Labels

Few products have the exact same temperature sensitivities, so there are many types of temperature indicator labels for companies to choose from. Some of the most common options include:

Temperature Level Labels

These labels track the change in temperature across several levels, so shippers and carriers have a record of which temperature ranges have been experienced by shipped goods. There are many different varieties of these labels, which are available in many different numbers of temperature steps to provide the information needed to make informed decisions about freight.

Time-Temperature Indicators

Time-temperature indicators provide information not only about temperatures experienced by goods but also about the time since unwanted temperature exposure occurred. These labels will continue changing color in different ways as time passes after a high or low-temperature event, so carriers and shippers have a sense of when thermal damage occurred. This can help companies take appropriate action to mitigate harm.

Reversible and Non-reversible Temperature Indicator Labels

Most often, companies use permanent, non-reversible temperature indicators on packages, as they tend to be more affordable. However, there are reversible temperature indicator labels, which can be used again and again — but the information they contain is typically only available to knowledgeable and skilled operators. Thus, reversible indicators might only be useful to companies that maintain complete control over their supply chain and shipping processes.

Temperature-related damage can be extreme. Especially for temperature-sensitive goods, companies need tools that allow them to track temperatures during transit and storage. With the above information about temperature indicators, you are a step closer to keeping your products safe and effective in the future.