DHL Global Forwarding has launched a new temperature-controlled air freight service targeting theLife Sciences and Healthcare sector and has identified direct distribution channels to the end
consumer as one of the key future opportunities for pharmaceutical and medical devicemanufacturers.The new global solution ‘DHL Thermonet’ complements the company’s network of Life Sciencesand Healthcare facilities offering customers a transparent and a regulatory compliant platform tomanage their temperature-sensitive shipments with pharmaceutical products and medical devices.
DHL Thermonet provides higher visibility by integrating proactive monitoring and intervention24 hours a day, 365 days a year, with SmartSensor RFID technology, an in-house development fromDHL’s Solutions & Innovation division. The SmartSensor monitors the ambient temperature of theshipment during transportation. As an optional service, near-product temperature of the goodsduring transport can be recorded using the SmartSensor XP technology, enabling more targetedintervention.
The data collected by the SmartSensors is uploaded automatically to the LifeTrack ITplatform via a web portal. Developed specifically for the life sciences and healthcare sector byLifeConEx, a subsidiary of DHL Global Forwarding, LifeTrack is the integrated operational tool forDHL Thermonet including all logistical and temperature data, from standard operating procedurescreation through shipment monitoring and intervention. In addition, LifeTrack simplifies andautomates document control and change management.
DHL Global Forwarding is currently focusing on its base of over 30 Life Sciences competencecentres around the globe, where it is implementing the DHL Thermonet standard. The service willcontinue to be rolled out in 2014, targeting 60 stations by the end of the year. Further networkexpansion is planned, the company added.
“The global market for pharmaceuticals has reached a total volume of over $1 trillion insales, with the US, Japan and China being the largest markets. The Life Sciences and Healthcareindustry is a key sector for DHL and we are heavily investing in new products and services toprovide comprehensive solutions to the needs of our customers,” said Roger Crook, CEO DHL GlobalForwarding, Freight who is also the DHL Executive Board Sponsor for the Life Sciences andHealthcare sector.
Temperature-sensitive products currently make up a quarter of global pharmaceutical sales.Due to the industry’s increasing shift of new products from chemical-based to biotech and specialtydrugs, growth in this segment is expected to accelerate, generating 50 per cent of sales within thenext five years.
In its latest white paper highlighting highlights trends for pharmaceutical and medicaldevice manufacturers, the DHL Customer Solutions & Innovation unit has identified keyopportunities and logistics trends in the Life Sciences sector for 2020 and beyond. One of the keyaction opportunities for manufacturers is to build up their own e-commerce operation by developingtheir own fulfilment capabilities or distributing their products via a third-party platformdirectly to consumers.
Other future trends include increasing differentiation of supply chains; deepening access ofemerging markets to tier-2 and tier-3 cities; rising importance of supply chain visibility toenable demand-driven supply chains and process outsourcing and the need for companies to keep theirsupply chain flexible to adapt to requirements of innovative products.
With the increasing differentiation of supply chains, transportation mode, warehousingconsolidation and distribution will need to be tailored in each country to the Life Sciencesproduct category, differentiating high-value/specialty drugs and implants, innovative standarddrugs and devices, generic drugs and frugal/low-tech devices OTCs, nutraceuticals and consumermedical devices.
In addition, the white paper urges pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers to expandtheir distribution capabilities to tier-2 and tier-3 cities and sometimes even to rural areas inemerging countries. This will require companies to decide whether to build up their own logisticsinfrastructures.
The report points out that people are generally better informed on health-related issues andtreatment options than ever before, thanks to the internet. The shift towards self-medication isexpected to boost the global market of over-the-counter products by 8.3 per cent annually until2016 and drive direct distribution channels to end consumers. At the same time, new health markets,such as China, India, Brazil, Russia or Mexico broaden the base for direct-to-consumer medicationand medical devices as well as ‘classical’ prescription products dispensed via pharmacies andhospitals. In China, medicine spending is expected to increase by 166 per cent from $67 billion in2011 to $161 billion in 2016.
