Efficiency is called for
The current challenges for temperature-controlled pharmaceutical logistics.
The Ukraine war and China’s new lockdown are putting yet more strain on logistics. Imbalances in supply chains have once again increased and present pharmaceutical logistics with familiar, but significantly increased challenges. For Dokasch Temperature Solutions, a manufacturer of active refrigerated containers, one thing’s clear – the task now is to make the most efficient use of the market’s limited capacities.
Pharmaceutical logistics corporations had hoped for a worldwide thaw in 2022. Disruptions in maritime shipping as well as scarce capacities in the airfreight segment created interactions in the Covid-19 downturn that were particularly challenging for companies transporting temperature-sensitive pharmaceuticals.
The global disruption severely reduced the once-reliable plannability of refrigerated supply chains – for example, if air cargo transports had previously passed through climatically favourable hubs in cooler climes, sudden interruptions forced airlines to spontaneously route some of their flights through hotter climates.
In these cases, actively cooled airfreight containers proved to be particularly suitable, as they keep their cargo at a strict temperature level, regardless of outside conditions.
Lockdown and no-fly zones
The war in Ukraine and the tightened lockdown in China are now adding to the problematic combination of disruptions at hubs on the ground as well as to bottlenecks in the air.
Only a few days after the start of the tightened lockdowns in the People’s Republic of China, numerous containerships were blocked outside the seaports of Shenzhen, Ningbo and Qingdao (see also page 11). At the same time, the numerous cancellations of passenger flights considerably reduced the loading capacities to and from China.
Added to this came the closure of Russian airspace to Western airlines, which results in significantly longer flights on certain routes. Airfreight capacities – already scarce – will thus fall even lower. Longer flight times and the need for some stopovers also reduce the availability of units worldwide.
The advantages of active cooling
Higher kerosine consumption, on the other hand, forces airlines to make weight reductions. The result is lower capacity utilisation of cargo holds. The situation is aggravated by the loss to the market of some airlines, as some have to stop flying altogether, on account of airspace closures and sanctions.
But according to Andreas Seitz, managing director of Dokasch Temperature Solutions, “actively cooled packaging solutions remain essential to safely transport temperature-controlled pharmaceuticals in this constellation.”
The German company developed the ‘Opticooler’, an actively cooled air cargo container designed for high reliability and resilience. The battery-powered charging device is capable of maintaining an exact temperature range in any climate – even for weeks if necessary. The container can be recharged at any normal power socket.
Seitz explained that “our worldwide depot network enables us to provide the highest possible availability of our Opticoolers. Despite this approach, ad hoc demand even brought us to our short-term limits in some cases.”
Due to current high demand, it’s therefore important that pharmaceutical logistics companies make the best possible use of all space available in the freight holds.
“It’s important to use the market’s very low capacities these days as efficiently as possible. Compared to passive solutions, our actively-cooled Opticooler can transport about 20% more temperature-sensitive pharmaceuticals per single pallet position in the aircraft,” Seitz calculated.
Ease of use and combination
With continuous further development, the reliability of the Opticooler has been increased even further. An improved display, for example, further increases user friendliness. In future, a new cooling programme will make it possible to combine the Opticooler efficiently with the passive packaging of frozen goods. This can considerably extend the shelf life of food containers and facilitate onward transport by road at the destination airport, for example.