This page is intended to answer any of your questions. We thought it would be useful to give you these few answers to frequently asked questions.
From general culture in insulated packaging to more practical questions, we are happy to help you.
If you prefer to discuss with us in person, do not hesitate to contact our sales team who will be happy to provide you with information.
ISOVATION is a company created in Avignon in 1990. We are experts in cold chain management. What does it mean? This means that our job is to understand the challenges and constraints of our customers to imagine isothermal solutions with innovation. We work with respect for your products and your constraints, taking into consideration the human challenges of your organizations.
Our products are designed, tested, manufactured and assembled exclusively in France, at our production plant in Avignon. ISOVATION is above all men and women who have accumulated 170 years of know-how and experience in all sectors of activity and all sizes of companies.
We design and manufacture solutions for transporting all heat-sensitive products: food, medical, living materials, etc. For all types of transport.
We work all over the world with various companies, from very small businesses to multinationals, with the constant concern to provide our customers with the solution that suits them best.
Our commitment is structured around 3 axes: our internal functioning, the use of our solutions and the treatment of these after use.
ISOVATION made a very early commitment to energy sobriety by optimizing its production chain, its discharges and by being the first player to imagine solutions that can be delivered flat, to save space and fuel. We continue to lead the way in these areas by imagining recyclable or biosourced solutions and by participating in the establishment of waste treatment subsidiaries. We also work with our customers to audit their needs, train their staff and offer them the most suitable solutions and help them set up efficient processes for using and processing our solutions.
Autonomous insulated packaging makes it possible to maintain the temperature of a product throughout transport without any external energy source. No need to plug it in or put it in a “cool” environment. It is designed to pass through a so-called “dry” transport: in a conventional truck. It is designed to withstand very hot and very cold temperatures, it will keep your products within the desired temperature range.
Isothermal packaging is determined according to the use that will be made of it. Generally, the input elements are the duration of transport, the temperature to be maintained in the packaging and the shipping season, this determines the difference between the temperature of the product and the temperature outside.
Depending on these elements, a thin packaging for a short duration or a high-performance packaging to meet a demanding need for several days.
Our sales team will be able to guide you and our design office will be able to design a tailor-made solution for you.
In terms of thermal performance, the criteria will be the duration of transport, the type of product to be transported, the temperature of the product to be maintained, the outside temperature (weather), the need for NFS99700 validated packaging.
Other parameters come into play beyond thermal performance, such as aesthetics and customization: material color, printing. Find some examples of boxes printed on metallic or white boxes on this page.
Beyond the performance of insulated packaging, there may be characteristics related to the product to be transported: A box intended to be shipped in e-commerce will not have the same type of closure (secure) as a box pastry intended to be handed over to the customer. To ship a vaccine, we will focus on performance and ergonomics of use. (insertion of cold blocks, handling of the product, strict compliance with the cold chain).
Each sector of activity has its own expectations and constraints to which we have been responding for more than 30 years. Contact us!
The choice of insulation depends on the performance needed to meet your needs. The longer the transport time, the greater the difference between the temperature of the transported product and the outside temperature, the better the insulation will have to perform. For an insulator to be efficient, it is necessary to increase its thickness and/or increase its insulating power.
For the last kilometer, we generally recommend a box in 3/4/5/10mm isostrat, delivered flat.
For durations exceeding 24 to 36 hours, we recommend the addition of XPS type insulation (extruded polystyrene, expanded) which comes in the form of panels that can be delivered flat.
Since 2021, we have been developing a range of biosourced insulation made from rice straw and hemp, also available flat, which can respond to different types of problems by combining performance and respect for our planet.
The ratio between insulation thickness and amount of icepack should be “logical”.
A house cannot do without heating or air conditioning despite the good insulation of its walls. Nor can it rely solely on heating or air conditioning to obtain an optimal indoor temperature.
An isothermal solution must be optimized: The correct insulation thickness/cold load ratio must be determined to obtain an economically viable product that provides sufficient thermal performance.
Trust our expertise, our sales team will be able to direct you to the most viable solution and our design office will be able to design a tailor-made solution for you.
There’s no insulated bag that doesn’t work! There is often an insulated packaging that is not used as it should be, or an insulated packaging that is not adapted to the need. From the person who buys the packaging to the end user, the chain is often long. This chain must be known and mastered.
Each person involved, each link in this chain must be trained in the preparation, use and management of this insulated packaging.
We support our customers in knowing their cold chain. We propose to make together an inventory of your internal functioning and your needs in isothermal packaging.
Together, we determine the need, we determine the appropriate packaging, we validate the packaging in our climatic chambers and in the “real” circuit, we record the temperatures in real time on the real journeys, and can then readjust the packaging performance. We help you have insulated packaging that works!
Both ! Some of our boxes are intended for the end user: for example, packaging shipped via e-commerce, or a pastry log box. The consumer can give free rein to his imagination to find a second life for it, otherwise throw it into the appropriate sorting circuit.
On the other hand, some of our boxes intended for the pharmaceutical or food industry sectors may be affected by reuse or the installation of “rotation” systems, and therefore reuse. Some of our references allow it, it is a decisive input data in the choice of the isothermal solution that we are going to offer you. Trust us !
Some of our solutions are waterproof, others are not. These are elements to be taken into account when drawing up the specifications in order to offer you the optimal isothermal packaging solution.
The raw materials used in the manufacture of our insulated packaging are sourced in France:
- Extruded polystyrene foam, expanded: Gard (30), Bouches du Rhônes (13), Mozelle (54)
- Metallic PET film / paper: Seine maritime (76)
- PS film: Loire (42)
- Corrugated box: Vaucluse (84)
- Adhesive : Loire Atlantique (44)
The NF S99 700 standard is an AFNOR standard for qualifying the performance of insulated packaging.
“Insulated packaging and refrigerated packaging for healthcare products – Method for qualifying thermal performance”.
This standard provides a framework for a test protocol: number of temperature probes, outdoor temperature profile, equipment to be used and associated metrology (climate chambers, recording probes).
We carry out tests based on this standard, and also carry out tests according to the constraints of the specifications of our customers.
Example: actual transport plan rather than the theoretical temperature profile mentioned in the standard.
Nous mettons la réactivité et le service client au cœur de nos préoccupations. Nous mettons tout en œuvre pour satisfaire nos clients, et honorer leurs commandes : l’échantillonnage, pré-série de fabrication, vente au carton, à la palette jusqu’au camion complet ou container maritime.
Si toutefois nous ne pouvons répondre à votre demande, nous saurons vous aiguiller vers nos distributeurs qui maintiennent du stock toute l’année sur de nombreuses références que nous fabriquons.
Nous fabriquons à la commande. Lorsque votre commande concerne un produit de notre catalogue, nous nous engageons à le produire et vous le livrer sous 4 semaines.
Votre commande concerne une étude que nous avons réalisé ensemble, le délai de livraison dépendra des outillages nécessaires pour la fabrication de votre produit : nouveaux outils de découpe / validation de BAT d’impression et commande d’un ou plusieurs écrans de sérigraphie.
Compter environ une à deux semaines supplémentaires lorsqu’il y a des outillages à créer.
Nos clients sont essentiellement des acteurs des secteurs pharmaceutiques, alimentaires, e-commerce, en BtoB. Les quantités de fabrication demandées par les particuliers sont trop souvent inférieures à nos quantités minimales de fabrication, et le particulier est souvent très pressé avec un besoin ponctuel.
Nous vous mettons alors en relation avec nos distributeurs qui maintiennent du stock toute l’année sur de nombreuses références que nous fabriquons.