By Shawn Lawrence
OUTSOURCING
THE RIGHT REMEDY FOR YOUR PHARMACEUTICAL AND HEALTHCARE
LOGISTICS NEEDS
F
or many pharmaceutical and healthcare product manufacturers, the business of logistics can be a mine field filled with its own set of challenges. After all, when it comes to healthcare products, logistics goes beyond just storing and shipping the product. It can include everything from temperature control management, keeping the product secure in terms of the chain of custody, and most importantly, it comes with its own set of regulatory compliance guidelines. Thus, not every logistics company is capable of providing the right type of services to meet pharmaceutical and healthcare logistics needs. Enter the Kuehne + Nagel Group. Founded as a family-owned enterprise in 1890, the Kuehne + Nagel Group is one of the world’s leading logistics companies across all industries. With approximately 65,000 employees working at more than 1,000 locations in over 100 countries, the Group covers every aspect of international logistics – on land, at sea and in the air. It also has a significant footprint in Canada, its first Canadian location established in 1953 (the very first that the German/Swiss company expanded to outside of Germany). Part of this Canadian footprint is a special 380,000 square foot facility located in Mississauga, ON. What makes this facility special is that is home to the company’s Canadian Pharmaceutical and Healthcare logistics center. The building, which officially opened in March 2012 is truly unique says Darrell Skelly, director, Strategic Customer Development Pharmaceutical & Healthcare for Kuehne + Nagel Ltd. “We offer warehousing of human and animal pharmaceuticals, medical devices and other consumer healthcare products. It is fully Pharma Healthcare GMP compliant, with Health Canada drug establishment and medical device licenses in place.” He explains what makes the building
unique is both the intricate details of its physical design as well as the people who work within it. In terms of the design, 100,000 sq.ft. is for consumer healthcare products with a further 80,000 sq.ft. that is both temperature and humidity- controlled. The additional 80,000 sq.ft. of Pharmaceutical Healthcare 15°C to 25°C space is temperature mapped and validated with white scrubable surfaces and GMP complaint sealed flooring. Temperature and humidity set points by zone are maintained by seven roof mounted HVAC units controlled electronically by a building computer system. Segregated receiving and shipping bay doors are accordion style to eliminate dust and prevent rodent entrance. Multiple Cool Zone areas are also available to meet clients’ specific needs in keeping with the demands of the highly regulated pharmaceutical sector. “We have multiple coolers and freezers built that range from 2ºC to 8ºC all the way down to -30ºC because we are client driven. We actually build to the exact requirements
for their products and in most cases we’re the ones investing our capital to meet our clients design needs.” Whatever the requirements, freezers, coolers or narcotics vaults all are customizable. He adds that there are redundancy measures in place for everything in the facility; including a diesel generator to support full operations should power go down, coupled with enough fuel on site for three days plus fuel replenishment agreements to ensure power is never lost. “So we never have to stop working and there are monitors everywhere for temperature and humidity environment measurement, transmitting data to a server, accessible by internet to our employees and securely to the quality control staff of our clients.” As alluded to, within the facility everything is monitored for both temperature and humidity. This is important due to the
The Global Logistics Network Worldwide network – more than 1000 locations in over 100 countries Integrated service portfolio – approximately 63,000 employees Turnover of CHF 20,930 million in 2013
20 BIOTECHNOLOGY FOCUS December 2014/January 2015
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