DHL expands Thermonet service network for life sciences and healthcare sector
Fifteen new stations added to the Thermonet network, with more than 65 to be certified by the end of the year
DHL Global Forwarding, the air and ocean freight specialist within Deutsche Post DHL, is spreading its temperature-controlled airfreight shipment service across the globe with 15 more certified Life Sciences stations going live in the second quarter of 2014, primarily in the Americas and EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) regions.
In recent years, temperature controlled products for the pharmaceutical industry have gained significantly in importance. The driving force is biotechnology products, which generally must be kept within a strict temperature range during transportation. The worldwide sales volume of this product category tripled from US$56bn in 2004 to an estimated $167bn in 2013, with further growth expected in the future.
The DHL Thermonet network currently has 45 stations in operation. The new stations are spread over the Americas with one each in Argentina, Chile, Columbia and Canada as well was two stations each in Brazil and Venezuela. In EMEA, new stations in Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Israel and Sweden will join the network along with one new station in South Africa. All stations will be audited against globally defined Good Distribution Practices (GDP) to ensure conformity across the network.
'Our customers in the life sciences and healthcare sector are looking for better ways to manage the risk of product damage and loss from temperature deviations in increasingly long and diverse supply chains globally,' says Roger Crook, CEO DHL Global Forwarding, Freight and Executive Board sponsor for the Life Sciences and Healthcare sector. 'With DHL Thermonet we are defining the new standard to tackle these requirements.'
DHL Thermonet provides seamless temperature visibility along the supply chain, 24/7 proactive monitoring and intervention based on pre-determined touch points and DHL’s RFID SmartSensor technology, that is GDP certified. Temperature data and logistics events can be accessed via the proprietary LifeTrack IT platform that also houses all product-specific SOPs, facilitating early intervention and simplifying document control. DHL Global Forwarding is looking to further spread the Thermonet network. By the end of the year, over 65 stations across the globe will be integrated.