COLD CHAIN CORNER
Self-Refrigerated, Cloud-Based Shipper Tackles Return Logistics Ember Technologies and Cardinal Health partnered on the shipper which offers unique ‘return to sender’ technology. Cardinal Health plans to launch a customer pilot for the Ember Cube in 2022. KEREN SOOKNE, DIRECTOR OF EDITORIAL CONTENT
A new digital shipping box, developed by partners Ember Technologies, Inc. (Ember®) and Cardinal Health, is poised to cut down on waste in the pharmaceutical supply chain while upholding product integrity for 2 to 8°C temperature-sensitive biologics for 48 to 72 hours. Brian Bejarano, Vice President of Operations, Cardinal Health, reports that the Ember Cube is a cloud-based, self-refrigerated shipping box, which uses GPS tracking technology via onboard cellular radio to communicate its location and real-time temperature at every point in the supply chain using national parcel networks. Data, including humidity levels, can be accessed via Ember’s proprietary cloud-based dashboard. “This technology provides unprecedented assurance of the integrity and security of temperature-sensitive products. In addition, the Ember Cube’s return-to-sender technology allows each Ember
Cube to be reused hundreds of times, eliminating single-use packaging and potentially eliminating millions of tons of landfill waste,” Bejarano adds. Leaders at Cardinal Health and Ember estimate the Ember Cube will save 7 million pounds in medical shipping containers from the landfill annually. The new Ember Cube will come in multiple sizes and will accommodate payloads from 125 cubic inches up to 900 cubic inches. For each size, the payload space is designed to be greater than or equal to the space in comparable EPS and paperboard shippers used to ship medicines today. Returns logistics While returns logistics have represented hurdles to pharma manufacturers in the past, the Ember Cube features a unique “return to sender” technology to essentially ship itself back.
↗ The Ember Cube is a cloud-based, self-refrigerated shipper, which uses GPS tracking technology via onboard cellular radio. A ‘return to sender’ button automates return scheduling.
10 | Healthcare Packaging • March/April 2022
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