CPN Specialty Products: Cool Chain Logistics.

Leading pharmaceutical companies invest hundreds of millions of dollars to research, develop and patent new products. It is a process that takes an average of eight to ten years from start to finish.

THE PROBLEMS:
Until recently, the transportation and logistics arrangements for pharmaceutical products have been far less sophisticated, as was often manifested by broken cool chains that can represent a significant cost to the industry in terms of product integrity and performance;

resulting in reduced product effectiveness, shorter shelf life, and potentially even posing a threat to health.

While the pharma industry has developed packaging materials such as insulated boxes with eutectic plates or cool packs and dry ice, air cargo equipment transporting these sensitive shipments still consisted of only flat airfreight pallets with nets or non-insulated baggage containers, leaving a lot of risk with the shipper.

With so much at stake, something had to change. The pharmaceutical industry demands high quality solutions for the transportation of temperature-sensitive products.

According to the studies, the pharmaceutical industry's needs include:

Active temperature control
Packaging and product integrity
Standardised door-to-door solutions
Security and real-time tracking
Speed
Total cost reduction

THE SOLUTION:
The transportation and temperature control suppliers have responded by implementing changes in technology, logistics and handling. New technologies have been developed that are multi-modal, with a validated temperature control system maintaining a uniform temperature for over 72 hours.

Improved logistics means that these temperature-controlled containers are available in the right place at the right time and all parties work to the same standard operating procedures.

How Temperature-Controlled Airfreight works. The arrival of temperature-controlled air cargo containers (envirotainer) in the mid-1990s radically changed the market and produced significant, measurable benefits by enabling the transportation of temperature-sensitive goods in an unbroken cool chain. The container's patented cooling system uses dry ice blocks in a separate bunker to cool the circulating air inside the unit, keeping the pre-set temperature stable for up to 72 hours. A thermostat and a fan constantly control the temperature.

Containers have been developed from smaller sizes most suited to the controlled carriage of small items such as medicines, vaccines, serum or proteins, up to full size air cargo containers for the lower decks of passenger aircraft. E-Booking and a sophisticated network of ground handlers at major international airports make it possible to lease the containers worldwide.

The rapid development of temperature-controlled air transport units is stimulated by higher industry awareness of the value of an unbroken cool chain and increasingly stringent controls over transportation practices from national health organizations and regulatory authorities like the United States Pharmacopoeia (USP), the US FDA and the Medicines Control Agency in the UK.

Monitoring an Unbroken Cool Chain from Producer to Consumer. New temperature control containers are being developed that allow customers to view the location and condition of the container in real-time. With this new technology, GPS receivers and radio modems operating on different frequencies will enable the continuous monitoring of a container's location to within 15 metres anywhere in the world.

Sensors monitor conditions such as internal and external temperature, humidity, shock and opening of the container door. This system will raise an alarm when different threshold levels for temperature or shock are exceeded, or if someone is trying to break into the container. With security of products being just as important to pharmaceutical customers as quality, this system represents another important step forward. It also reduces insurance costs.

Increasing the Quality of Life. The end result will be to create an environment where patients can feel safer because the product quality is maintained, health authorities will have confidence that supplies will arrive in pristine condition and the cost of pharmaceuticals will be optimized by eliminating waste.

There are two solutions for reliable cold chain products:

• Active temperature control system based on dry ice refrigeration

• Active temperature control system based on compressor cooling and electrical heating

Both solutions support temperature ranges of:

• +2 to +8 °C (+36 to +46 °F)

• +10 to +25 °C (+50 to +77 °F) (Room temperature)

• -20 °C (-4 °F)

Cargp Partners Network: the worldwide network for transportation, freight forwarding and logistics.