A little less than a year ago, DicksonOne Product Manager, Matt McNamara, traveled to Dubai to meet with one of Dickson’s distributors, and a Cold Chain Expert, Mr. Brij M. Suri. Matt toured Dubai, learning the nuances of our customer’s applications, and even speaking at a Cold Chain Seminar about the benefits of wireless temperature monitoring and Software as a Service applications.
One of the most interesting parts of his trip: a camel milk production facility. And it didn’t just fascinate Matt, it fascinated all of us here at Dickson. We liked his pictures, videos, and stories of the camel milk facility so much, we asked him to write about his experience. That Customer Profile of Camelicious was one of our most read Dickson Insight articles, and one of our most enjoyable to publish.
Last December, Matt and another one of our temperature and humidity monitoring experts, Jeff Goolsby, traveled back to Dubai to learn more about the Cold Chain, and to specifically speak at a conference our friend Brij M. Suri was hosting: The 3rd Annual International Cold Chain Management Seminar.
It may seem a little odd that we traveled to the desert like conditions in the Middle East to talk with international Cold Chain leaders, but we did. And if you think about it, what better way to learn about keeping medicines, drugs, and food cold than where it’s hardest to do so: the desert.
Jeff (left) and Matt (right) take questions from an audience of medical and cold chain professionals.
WHO WE SENT
Matt McNamara: DicksonOne Product Manager
Profile: After 6 years at Dickson, Matt has become our foremost authority on wireless temperature and humidity monitoring. He’s the Swiss Army Knife of our company, and to our customers as well. As the DicksonOne Product Manager, Matt has helped guide hundreds of organizations through the Cold Chain mine field.
Jeff Goolsby: Senior Sales Consultant and Temperature Mapping and Validation Expert
Profile: During his time at Dickson, Jeff has become one of the leading international experts on Temperature Mapping and Validation Projects. His knowledge comes from years of regulatory research and a hands-on approach. Jeff has worked with multiple Fortune 500 companies to find the best Temperature Mapping and Validation solution for them. He is our guru of temperature sensor placement, air stratification, and the layout of any building or warehouse.
THE CONFERENCE
While the Dickson customers that Matt and Jeff visited last December were intriguing, The 3rd Annual International Cold Chain Management Seminar took the cake as their favorite part of the trip. The Seminar featured a wide variety of speakers from the Middle East and abroad, all sharing their own expertise on managing the cold chain. Government officials, compliance experts from pharmaceutical companies and even two medical doctors showed up to speak at the show. In the final Press Release for the event, the words ”debate” and ”discuss” were mentioned in the opening paragraph. Matt and Jeff found those two words to be exactly what they were getting in to.
One of the most interesting and hotly debated moments of the conference occurred during Jeff’s presentation on Temperature Mapping. Temperature Mapping is a widely and vehemently debated topic, because at the moment, there is no set of standards or regulations that speak to it directly. Cold Chain professionals know that it is important, even critical to understanding the different temperatures in their facility, but regulatory bodies don’t specifically say how to go about mapping a refrigerator, cold room, or entire warehouse.
This made Jeff’s presentation on Temperature Mapping one of the most interesting parts of the seminar. When it came time for Jeff to take questions from the audience, the cold chain professionals shot their hands up and began to debate what best practices for temperature mapping actually are. They asked Jeff questions about everything related to temperature mapping, looking for some guidance on how they could ensure their products were stored safely.
Jeff obliged. The next 20 or so minutes of the seminar were some of its most fruitful. Experts shared their knowledge on topics like mean kinetic temperature, liquid drugs, and temperature stratification. What came out of the discussion was a better understanding of proper GMP and GDP protocol.
When Jeff and Matt returned they spoke of their third trip to Dubai as the best. They were able to take away valuable information from each presenter, and have already used some of that knowledge to help out our customers stateside. We are excited to head back to the Dubai next year, for the 4th installment of the International Cold Chain Management Seminar.
Acknowledgments: Thank you to Mr. Brij M. Suri and Abdullah Haider GT LLC for their support of the seminar, and for acting as a gracious host to Matt and Jeff during their trip to Dubai.
