Join Yan Kugel and Nick Gilmore in this insightful discussion from CPHI Frankfurt, where they explore Testo Saveris‘s (LinkedIn) role in pharmaceutical environmental monitoring. Gilmore highlighted Testo’s six-decade commitment to reliable instrumentation and ongoing R&D investment, and explained how Saveris is designed for strict GxP/GMP compliance with three-level data redundancy and full traceability.
Six decades of legacy in measurement technology
Testo has more than 60 years of experience in measurement technology, and reliability is central to the company’s philosophy. To ensure both hardware and software remain stable and future-ready, they reinvests roughly 10 percent of its annual turnover into in-house research and development. This sustained investment enables them to refine sensor accuracy, extend battery life in wireless loggers, and harden firmware for long-term stability. The company’s long history also influences support and calibration services: customers benefit from established calibration protocols, extended service lifecycles, and global technical support networks that help maintain measurement traceability over years of operation. These elements are particularly important for pharmaceutical customers who must demonstrate consistent instrument performance during audits and regulatory inspections.
Designing smarter monitoring systems
Pharmaceutical environments demand strict GxP and GMP compliance, and Testo builds these requirements into product design from the outset. The company’s systems are engineered to ensure traceable, auditable data capture across the chain of custody so that every event can be validated. Testo employs a three-level redundancy model, where data are recorded at logger level, at the base station, and within the central system, which helps maintain data availability and verifiability even in complex and distributed supply chains. Beyond redundancy, the software includes role-based access controls, electronic signatures, and immutable audit logs that record who accessed data and what changes were made. Testo also designs workflows that support validation documentation, such as IQ/OQ/PQ templates, and provides evidence artifacts that simplify regulatory submissions and internal quality reviews.
Common challenges faced by pharmaceutical customers
Clients bring a variety of needs depending on the specific supply chains they operate in, but several macro trends are consistent across the industry. There is a widespread shift from paper-based workflows to fully digital systems, which increases demands on reliable, integrated monitoring platforms. Global, multimodal supply chains introduce greater complexity in manufacturing and logistics, requiring monitoring solutions that can operate across different environments and handoffs between logistics providers. The growth of biologics has heightened the need for fine-grained temperature control because many products are highly temperature sensitive, often requiring narrower setpoints and more frequent sampling. Pharmaceutical companies are also confronted with an increasing volume of data and fragmented systems, which creates a pressing need for clear visibility and integrated platforms that provide a single version of the truth. In practical terms, customers ask for standardized data formats, APIs for enterprise integration, configurable alerts to avoid alarm fatigue, and dashboards tailored to different stakeholder groups from QC teams to supply chain managers.
How precise monitoring supports sustainability goals
Precise temperature and humidity monitoring contributes to sustainability in several meaningful ways. Improved visibility across supply chains enables quicker detection of excursions and reduces the number of compromised batches, which lowers product waste. More accurate environmental control supports targeted climate management and optimized energy use, reducing the carbon footprint of storage and transport facilities. For example, better spatial monitoring can enable zoned HVAC control in warehouses, avoiding overcooling of areas that do not contain temperature-sensitive products. Data-driven route optimization and load planning for cold chain shipments reduce empty runs and improve container utilization. Testo also applies sustainability principles internally by operating multi-country manufacturing and investing in more sustainable facilities, including a recent manufacturing investment in Portugal intended to strengthen sustainable supply chains. These investments include energy-efficient production equipment and local sourcing strategies that reduce transport emissions and increase resilience.
Predictive analytics and integration as the next frontier
Looking three to five years ahead, Testo expects predictive analytics and artificial intelligence to play an increasingly important role in environmental monitoring. Rather than relying solely on alarm-driven, reactive responses, customers are seeking systems that can predict when excursions are likely to occur and provide early warnings based on historical and real-time data. Predictive models can combine sensor trends, HVAC performance, seasonal patterns, and logistics milestones to forecast risk and suggest preventive actions, such as pre-conditioning storage units or rerouting shipments. Another major trend is the need for better data integration; pharmaceutical companies must link disparate systems to create a single reliable view of operational data. To meet these demands, Testo is enhancing its ability to connect monitoring systems with customers’ enterprise systems and invest in analytics capabilities that turn monitoring data into proactive, actionable insights. This includes developing standardized APIs, supporting cloud and on-premise deployments for different compliance needs, and enabling data export in validated formats to feed into QMS and ERP systems.
Conclusion
Reliability and compliance remain the foundation of pharmaceutical environmental monitoring, and Testo’s long-standing investment in R&D positions the company to address these needs. As the industry embraces digitalization, faces growing supply chain complexity, and handles increasing volumes of data, integrated monitoring systems with predictive capabilities will become essential. Precise environmental monitoring not only improves product safety and compliance but also supports sustainability through waste reduction and energy efficiency. Testo is positioning its solutions to help customers navigate these changes and turn monitoring data into meaningful, forward-looking decisions by combining robust instrumentation, validated software, and a growing set of analytics and integration tools.
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