The audacity of hope
The intercontinental distribution of vaccines has only just started. The goal of the Hope Consortium from Abu Dhabi is to play a key role therein between the Middle East, South Asia and Africa. The ITJ’s Christian Doepgen discussed Hellmann’s relationship with the Hope Consortium with one of it’s representatives, Madhav Kurup, Hellmann’s regional CEO for the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia.
When did negotiations to form the Hope Consortium start?
The government of Abu Dhabi took the lead, launching the initiative through the health ministry. The government wants to capitalise on the emirate’s advantageous geographical position and make pro-active moves to meet the global and regional challenge of vaccine distribution. In June 2020 we started discussions, as informal brainstorming sessions without any initial commitment. Experts from the health sector, trade and industry, logistics and the customs authorities joined in. After detailed study and analysis a few key players were invited to join the consortium.
Is it just the big four – Agility, Aramex, Hellmann, Kuehne + Nagel – or are there any other forwarders on board too?
We’re starting out with these big players, that already have a standing in the country. Hellmann was invited primarily on account of its experience in the healthcare sector, as we already have a regional hub in place. We need many, many players for last mile, however.
What sets you apart from others?
We’ve been a separate legal entity in the United Arab Emirates since 2010, because we wanted to separate processes from general forwarding activities. This was quite a challenge, as outsourcing for healthcare hubs wasn’t very common yet at the time. Approval was slow in coming, until we managed to convince the authorities and pharmaceutical companies.
How is Hellmann Healthcare Logistics structured overall?
Our hub has been expanded thrice, from an initial 10,000 pallet positions to 25,000 slots. Our dedicated healthcare warehouse offers the temperature segments –25 to –15°C, 2 to 8°C and 15 to 25°C. We’ve carried out simulation exercises to standardise and validate our processes. We subsequently signed contracts with many global pharmaceuticals corporations, grew with them and are now established as a regional market leader.
Finding qualified personnel is difficult.
You’re right. We recruited our personnel from healthcare and pharmaceuticals businesses and trained them in logistics. We can genuinely say that we’re the only global corporation in the Middle East with such a dedicated team. We set up educational, talent and internal learning programmes based on European models; in this way we accompany our people on their career path. We started out with a staff of 15, today we have around 70 people on the payroll in our healthcare division. We have a 90% long-term retention rate.
Our services encompass warehousing, logistics, and serialisation for GDP and GMP activities. There are 3,000 forwarders in the region, and only five of them specialise in the healthcare sector.
What regions will Hellmann focus on?
In the airfreight segment, the Middle East is our priority, followed by South Asia and Africa. Hope also supports countries with poor infrastructure; we can supply African countries from Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
How do you maintain the cool chain?
The UAE’s airports are well equipped. We collaborate with partners that help to maintain the required temperatures. Our 2 to 8°C solution has been validated. Packaging solutions that can maintain the required temperatures are key too.
At what rate do you expect the vaccine segment to grow in 2021?
The programme will start in Q2 / 2021 and take off in H2. India as a major producer and exporter of pharmaceuticals will be a major topic; it needs external airfreight and sea freight reefer capacities. Hellmann developed a validated end-to-end transport system with its global team five months ago, from the production plant to the inoculation station. Our staff has been trained to know what is needed; all the preparations have been completed. Our systems are ready to go.
