DHL yesterday unveiled plans to invest €80 million in its healthcare logistics network in India toserve the fast-growing life sciences sector and opened a distribution centre in Mumbai as the first
of eight facilities planned by 2015.The India investment is a key part of a worldwide expansion of services and facilities forthe global life sciences and healthcare industry, senior managers told European journalists at amedia briefing on the sidelines of a major customer event in Berlin.
DHL aims to be the leading logistics provider for the life sciences and healthcare sector,which includes pharmaceuticals (a €730bn sub-sector), medical devices (€180bn), clinical trials(€50bn), healthcare distribution (€30bn) and healthcare services (€2,500bn), Angelos Orfanos,President Life Sciences & Healthcare for DHL Customer Solutions & Innovation, said.
Key customer trends include a move towards direct distribution to pharmacies and hospitals bycutting out distributors, he noted. In addition, manufacturers were now more open to having theirproducts distributed via shared-user facilities rather than their own warehouses to reduce costs,he pointed out. “They are asking for ways to streamline with shared-user warehouses.” In addition,more biological-based products increased the need for temperature-sensitive transportation andstorage, he added.
In response, DHL’s strategy for the sector focuses on expanding its global footprint,deepening its expertise, adding new services and providing cost-efficient solutions, Orfanosexplained. DHL now has more than 150 life sciences and healthcare facilities worldwide, including28 competence centres, 32 clinical trial depots, four regional hubs (Turkey, Dubai, Singapore,Panama) and five European road cross-docks. In addition, the group now employs 67 licensedpharmacists. Products and services for the sector include the Medical Express service for clinicaltrials, cold-chain solutions for temperature-sensitive items, special packaging and lead logisticsprovider concepts.
“DHL is strongly committed to investing in markets of growing importance. Looking to 2015 andbeyond, India, China and other emerging markets are expected to be the key drivers of growth in thepharmaceutical and medical device sectors,” Orfanos declared.
Apart from the major investment in India, DHL has also recently opened new life sciencesfacilities in Hungary, Russia and the USA, bought full ownership of LifeConEx from Lufthansa and isplanning to invest in China, Orfanos said. But he declined to give an overall figure for the group’s investment in the sector.
Andrew Mitchell, DHL Supply Chain’s Vice President Corporate & Commercial DevelopmentAsia Pacific, stressed that India will be a key growth market for DHL in the life sciences sector.The country is forecast to become the world’s eighth-largest pharmaceutical market by 2015 and isalready the second-largest exporter of pharmaceutical products, he said.
DHL will invest €80 million in creating a network of eight multi-customer sites (MCS) with atotal footprint of 300,000 sqm across the country by 2015, Mitchell said. “We see India as amassive growth engine. We see enormous demand for healthcare services in India,” he declared. “Withthese facilities we believe we will have something quite unique to offer.”
The first site is a 3,000 sqm state-of-the-art Life Sciences facility within a newlyconstructed 56,000 sqm multi-customer distribution centre in Mumbai. This will offer a completeportfolio of innovative services to manufacturers of pharmaceutical products from order managementto warehousing & distribution.
DHL is currently also constructing MCS facilities in Gurgaon, near Delhi (29,300 sqm), andBangalore (21,100 sqm), is planning sites in Chennai (20,500 sqm) and Ahmedabad (22,500 sqm), andis reviewing other sites in Delhi, Kolkatta and central India.
“The new platform in Mumbai will enable us to provide a world class service to our customers,enabling them to expand their businesses. Life Sciences & Healthcare is a key industry for DHLSupply Chain in India. By setting up this world class infrastructure we continue to meet theindustry’s increasing logistics and warehousing needs. We have the capabilities to distribute towholesalers, pharmacists and hospitals from our new center in Mumbai based on customer demands,”stated Vikas Anand, Chief Operating Officer, DHL Supply Chain India.
