LAE Creates Study on Pharma Air Freight Containers in Comparison

The Swiss Logistics Advisory Experts GmbH (LAE), a spin-off of the Institute for Supply Chain Management at the University of St. Gallen, has created a study comparing pharma air freight containers. Various parameters were established, based on the assumption that pharmaceutical logistics will have to meet even stricter quality requirements in the future. The study was conducted by Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Stölzle and Victor Wildhaber (both LAE).

(St. Gallen, Switzerland) Quality requirements have always played a prominent role in pharmaceutical logistics. Compliance with specified quality standards affects the entire logistical process chain, including intercontinental transport of pharmaceutical products via air freight. Pharma air freight containers are used for transport in aircraft. Their performance is the focus of this study, as pharmaceutical logistics will face even higher quality requirements for transport, high loss costs of pharmaceutical products, and stricter sustainability demands from international regulators, institutions, and companies in the future.

Quality Requirements Often Not Sufficient

Currently, the transport of time- and temperature-sensitive pharmaceutical products often does not fully meet quality requirements. Temperature deviations, for example, lead to total losses of goods in about one-third of cases. Significant follow-up costs arise from inadequate quality along the pharmaceutical transport chain related to the loss of product value, penalties, the creation of clinical studies, or root cause analysis. In addition to these avoidable loss costs amounting to billions annually, pharmaceutical logistics is subject to climate change and faces the associated climate goals of the air freight industry. For example, IATA aims to reduce CO₂ emissions in the future.

Study Compares Pharma Air Freight Containers

Against this background, the goals of the present study are to analyze and compare the performance of pharma air freight containers in the areas of “temperature control,” “CO₂ profile,” and “cost-effectiveness.” Nine containers used in the air freight market are systematically compared. The study arrives at the following key findings. Up to 1.7% of all shipments result in temperature-related CAPA cases[1], while up to around 0.4% of all shipments result in total loss of goods. The CAPA and total loss cases lead to high failure costs. For every 1,000 shipments, loss costs can amount to up to EUR 3,000,000. Regarding temperature control, the containers from SkyCell, Envirotainer, CSafe, and Dokasch lead the performance comparison.

Volume-Weight Analysis

The volume-weight analysis shows that the weight-to-volume ratio varies significantly due to substantial differences in container construction. For example, weight-based containers account for up to ¾ of the total weight (pharmaceutical product, pallet, and container). A similar picture emerges in the volume analysis. Weight and/or volume-intensive containers have a comparatively stronger impact on CO₂ emissions. The type of aircraft (full freighter or belly freighter) has a significant impact on CO₂ emissions. Depending on the container type, full and belly freighters can achieve load factors of only around 30% to nearly 100%. In a full freighter, at maximum load of the examined containers, between 19 and 28 tons of CO₂ are emitted per ton of product transported, while this value for a comparable aircraft type as a belly freighter ranges between 17 and 42 tons. Emissions depend on the flight distance, the chosen aircraft type and its loading capacities, the construction of the containers, and their loading with pharmaceutical products. In terms of emissions, relatively light and compact containers that also have a high usable interior volume prove advantageous. Regarding emissions, the containers from SkyCell, va-Q-tec, and Softbox lead the performance comparison.

Cost-Effective Does Not Mean Cheap

The cost-effectiveness analysis suggests that the total costs of a container consist of logistics costs, CAPA costs, and total loss costs. The three categories are mainly influenced by the container type, CAPA cases, and the associated total losses. It becomes evident that the cheapest containers (based on rental/purchase costs and logistics costs) are not the most economical containers. The cost-effectiveness analysis reveals that container types with lower probabilities of temperature deviations tend to perform the best. In terms of cost-effectiveness, the containers from SkyCell, Softbox, and Taracell lead the performance comparison.

Sustainability is Given Greater Weight

Finally, the focus shifts to the future-oriented assessments of the players in the pharma air freight sector, namely companies in the pharmaceutical industry, logistics services, and cargo airlines. Apparently, market participants will place greater emphasis on sustainability in the future. This is particularly true for logistics service providers. Container providers are increasingly being asked for more sustainable and flexible offerings with more monitoring services, in light of the increasing individualization of pharmaceutical products and the accompanying larger capacities of pharma air freight containers.
[1] A temperature-related CAPA case means that due to a temperature deviation from the temperature range defined by the pharmaceutical manufacturer and existing regulatory requirements of the WHO, a temperature-related “Corrective and Preventive Action” case (CAPA case) must be opened.

The study is available for download here (scroll to the bottom):

https://logistics-advisory-experts.ch/unser-serviceangebot

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