SWISS forwarding giant Kuehne + Nagel is rolling out KN PharmaChain, a product tailored to the specific needs of the pharmaceutical and health care industry.
KN PharmaChain offers door-to-door temperature control, a 24-hour alert system, optional wireless temperature measuring and best practice (GxP) standards for facilities, working processes and training programmes.
A company statement said: "If not correctly handled and transported, pharmaceuticals efficacy may be compromised or rendered completely ineffective, resulting in serious and costly consequences, in particular, in the case of high value, mission critical and temperature sensitive products.
"Therefore, the choice of a logistics provider is highly important for pharmaceutical and healthcare companies as they need partners who understand the nature of sensitive products as well as the strict regulatory rules. They must also be familiar with the logistics challenges in both mature and emerging global markets," it said.
Full risk assessments of carrier partners as well as of transport lanes ensure best-in-class services on all routes within the network comprising of 58 designated stations.
Comprehensive best practice (GxP) policies apply for staff, working processes and facilities, and by the end of 2012, all locations will be fully GxP-compliant.
Temperature visibility can be provided by the use of active wireless sensors, which record and transmit the shipment temperature throughout. Kuehne + Nagel claims to be the first logistics provider to offer a service using active sensors.
Temperature controlled shipments are monitored by the KN PharmaChain CareTeam, operating 24 hours/day and seven days/week from two locations in Europe and the Americas. An electronic alert system ensures that any disruption in the supply chain will be reported immediately to the CareTeam, which pro-actively monitors temperature-controlled shipments.
Said K+N air logistics vice president Tim Scharwath: "We have developed this product in close cooperation with customers and partners."
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