14


Issue 3 2018 - Freight Business Journal


Pharma firms take to the water Adam Tetz, Peli BioThermal’s director of worldwide marketing, explains how the latest developments in packaging and shipping are benefiting


the global pharma supply chain. Peli BioThermal is one of a select number of industry leaders that have joined the newly launched sea-freight program, Poseidon to improve collaboration and integration between pharmaceutical manufacturers and their logistics providers. It aims to better ensure the safe and secure


supply chain. transportation of


health-giving and life-saving pharmaceutical products. The pharmaceutical industry


is looking to sea freight for a carbon-friendly, efficient use of fuels. Joining Poseidon allows us to work together with industry leaders to outline how ocean transport can best be used to improve efficiency of the pharmaceutical supply chain. Poseidon provides a sea-


freight GDP compliant model, aimed at ensuring the safe


and secure transportation of pharmaceutical products throughout the entire pharma- logistics


The


program focuses on an ocean- going approach to temperature controlled pharmaceutical transportation, which offers low transportation costs, minimal environmental impact and minimal temperature excursions during long-haul logistics. It is part of a new effort, which aims to improve pharmaceutical supply chain efficiency for ocean logistics. There is already a move within


the industry towards sea freight and that’s one of the reasons Peli BioThermal joined Poseidon because our products are well designed for passive shipments for four or five days and we want to ensure we remain relevant to


German giant


plans cool hubs for pharma hotspots


Luſthansa Cargo is planning to set up a network of cool hubs all around the world, the carrier’s cargo chief executive Peter Gerber told a press conference in Frankfurt on 22 March. The German carrier has already just opened an extension to its main cool facility in Frankfurt, and Munich could soon benefit from a similar facility to cater for a booming market in temperature- sensitive pharma traffic handled on the carrier’s Cool/td service he said. Ultimately, Luſthansa would


“establish a cool network around the world at all ‘hotspots’” he predicted. “It’s in the planning stage, and it’s not just in Germany,” he explained. Medical and pharma business


was growing all around the world, he explained. “Demand for pharma is very high; production is rising and we’re seeing double digit growth.” He foresaw growth opportunities throughout the world, particularly in Europe, India and North and South America, although it was too


early to name specific airports Luſthansa would develop. Luſthansa Cargo opened the first phase of its Frankfurt


our customers. Currently around 20% of payloads


pharmaceutical


are moved by ocean freight. However this is forecast to increase to approximately 75% within the next 10 years. Temperature controlled shipments will be a part of that, although much of the increase is likely to be made up of payloads that are shelf stable or have a wider temperature range. There will always be a need air


for emergencies


transportation when arise.


Some


pharma products will always be in high demand, and there will be situations that need pharmaceuticals quickly. The Poseidon program is


ground breaking due to its GDP compliant nature; there is nothing exactly like it. However,


are prohibited by the strict pharma industry GDP and CEIV standards. Recently extended, it now offers a total of 8,000sq m of space. Around 15-20% of the


Frankfurt facility’s traffic is in ‘active’ containers that maintain temperature using either dry ice or, in the case of the newer, more sophisticated units, compressors driven by rechargeable batteries. The dry ice units are gradually being phased out, but it will be many years before they disappear totally, a cool centre spokesman predicted. The remainder of the traffic


comes in various types of ‘passive’ packaging. While this of varying degrees of sophistication, it is a much cheaper alternative than active containers which, in the case of the newer compressor-driven examples, can cost €90,000 each.


In October, Luſthansa


cool centre in 2012, and it handles a wide range of pharma and life science goods, along with temperature- sensitive chemicals – though not


perishable foods, which


announced a collaboration with thermal container firm va-Q-tec to make its highly sophisticated passive units available at many of its stations. The va-Q-tainers offer six temperature ranges from -70 degrees C to +25 degrees in five sizes and can hold up to two US pallets, maintaining constant temperature for several days without any external energy sources.


there are some shipping companies who are currently operating in this sector and doing quite well. Poseidon also brings in


other elements too in terms of temperature including temperature loggers and monitors,


temperature


controlled packaging such as we provide and blankets. I’m impressed with a number


of the shipping companies that have temperature controlled warehouses at each end of a lane. They have consolidation/ deconsolidation processes which make it easy for pharma companies to ship their products to a temperature controlled truck, into a temperature controlled warehouse and then put into a temperature controlled reefer system on the ship.


in


///PHARMA


The process is repeated reverse at


the other end


of the lane, as the shipping company deconsolidate the pharmaceutical shipment and then it goes off to the local distribution facility. A number of the


pharmaceutical manufacturers I have spoken to at industry events throughout the year have all said that they are really excited about going into sea freight. There is lower risk of excursions because once you load it, the shipment is not really touched and human error or interference is oſten when temperature excursions can happen. The benefits of sea freight are


three: the risk is lower; there are cost savings because less is paid per kilometre to ship by water versus aircraſt; and there is also a green component because less fuel is used and fewer carbon emissions are created. We see the Poseidon


partnership as an opportunity to refine our product portfolio. We can learn what else we can do with our products to make


them a better fit for sea freight and we want to be a part of the pharmaceutical manufacturers move to sea freight from air freight. Something that’s hot right now,


and which we’re taking a close look at ourselves, is collecting data per shipment, enabled by the Internet of Things (IoT). There is a lot of interest among pharmaceutical manufacturers in tracking shipments and following what happens to them during transportation. On the packaging front there is a current shiſt from utilising the big active systems to passive systems such as our Crēdo Cargo. There is a realisation that a passive system works really well and is very dependable for five days compared against the cost and lack of availability for active systems. There has definitely been an increased move by the pharmaceutical companies to use passive bulk systems. There are still a lot of active


systems that are used but there is more of an acceptance that passive is another good option.


Forwarder extends pharma capabilities


Kuehne + Nagel has extended its European overland cross dock platform in Contern, Luxembourg and has integrated telematics data from key transport partners, both moves that the forwarder says will strengthen its position in the pharma solutions market. Uwe Hött, senior vice president overland Europe


at Kuehne + Nagel, said the developments would “contribute


towards our overall


significantly strategy


for the pharma industry with a special focus on temperature controlled


transportation


for both FTL and LTL. The extension


of the Contern


facility will enhance providing industry leading services with


Blockchain could be a lifesaver, says DHL report


The Blockchain could one day save patients’ lives, says DHL in a new report published in conjunction with its technology partner, Accenture. With as many as a million


lives lost each year to counterfeit medications, according to Interpol, and with up to 30% of


pharmaceutical products sold in emerging markets estimated to be fakes, DHL Supply Chain chief information officer, Keith Turner, says: “By utilising the inherent irrefutability within blockchain technologies, we can make great strides in highlighting tampering, reducing the risk of counterfeits


Geodis goes the extra mile


French-owned global forwarder Geodis has signed an expanded contract with Spanish-based pharma and healthcare company Biosystems to send temperature-controlled reagents and lab instruments to over 35 countries across the world. The two companies


have been cooperating for over ten years, and this new contract incorporates all new destinations. Biosystems exports to


challenging places such as Armenia,


Afghanistan and a


variety of African locations. The forwarder uses its global


increased capacity for our customers.” The platform in Contern is part of Kuehne + Nagel’s KN PharmaChain,


a multi-


modal logistics solution for temperature-controlled


door-


to-door transportation which allows accurate traceability of the deliveries and intensive, proactive risk management.


and actually saving lives.” DHL and Accenture have created


a blockchain-based serialisation prototype to track pharmaceuticals across the supply chain. The ledger tracking these medicines may be shared with stakeholders such as manufacturers, distributors, pharmacies, hospitals, and doctors and DHL says that lab simulations show that the blockchain could handle more than seven billion unique serial numbers and 1,500 transactions per second.


network to perform customs activities and organises direct bills of lading according to the company’s requirements. This, says Geodis’ managing director for freight forwarding in Spain, Vincent Bertonnaud, “creates one integrated


solution with


top service at the best possible rate and simplified monthly invoicing.”


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