Brussels, Belgium: Seven healthcare logistics companies have formed an alliance, the Skandi Network, the first international GDP-compliant temperature-controlled distribution network for life science goods.
“More and more companies in the healthcare industry are looking for best-in-class international transport and distribution solutions according to the rules of EU-Good Distribution Practice (GDP)”, says Rudy Smets, managing director, Skandi Network.
“Skandi Network combines the capacities and the know-how of leading European specialists who all have a strong expertise in temperature-controlled transport and distribution of life science products. And we put all this into one European network for the mutual benefit of customers, patients, shippers, transport companies and the environment.”
Morten Studsgaard, chief executive, BHS Logistics, said the major advantage for shippers is that they can “access experts for GDP temperature control to manage cross-border shipments easily and securely in a cost-efficient way.”
“This will lead to higher consolidation and therefore is an ideal means to align quality, costs and reduce emissions.”
Paul Wilkinson, president, Movianto UK, said the main asset of Skandi Network is “a unique digital collaborative information platform system called CIPS – Collaborative Information Platform System, developed for the network.”
“CIPS’s task is to integrate all the data from the members’ own IT systems and make it accessible through one common frontend,” he said.
“If you take a shipment from Denmark to Portugal, for example, then with CIPS it will be possible for the shipper, the consignee and for all the partners to have a complete temperature curve of the shipment directly after the delivery scan.”
“The information will be given on a shipment as well as on a parcel level. Therefore, CIPS will make it easy for new members to connect to the platform as they can go on using their existing software and hardware.
“Furthermore, the information about where a shipment is, where it should go to and what the temperature is, facilitates multi country shipment consolidation in one of the 10 strategic regional consolidation platforms of Skandi Network.”
“And last but not least, the tool gives clients and end customers access to this information in real time providing full transparency,” Wilkinson said.
Skandi Network will focus solely on life science products. This includes the distribution of pharmaceuticals, biomedicals, diagnostics, medical devices, and vaccines to virtually all hospitals, pharmacies, pharmaceutical wholesalers, care facilities, doctors, veterinarians, laboratories, home patients, pharmaceutical field service organisations and sales representatives.
Most of these products are temperature-sensitive and require active temperature-controlled environments like 2-8 °C, 15-25 °C or even -25°C. Focus will be on parcel and 1 up to max 5 pallet shipments per consignment.
The members are: Arra Group (Poland), BHS Logistics (Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania), BL Turkey Biopharma Logistics (Turkey), Eurotranspharma (France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxemburg, Spain, Czech Republic, Slovakia and also Germany, Austria and Slovenia via its existing local partner), Movianto (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland), PHSE (Italy), Rangel Logistics Solutions (Portugal). This means that members of SKANDI Network cover 25 countries right from the start.
The aim of Skandi Network is to have members covering 36 countries by 2025 latest. On a worldwide level, Life Logistics Network has joined Skandi Network as a “Supporting Partner” of the network. The same applies in the opposite direction. Life Logistics Network is a global network composed of top-class pharmaceutical forwarders around the world who will have access to Skandi Network.
“One of the strategic topics of Skandi Network and main reasons to build it is sustainability”, said Nuno Rangel, chief executive, Rangel Logistics Solutions.
“If acting alone it is nearly impossible for a logistics service provider to become a trusted and responsible part of the solution in the sustainable transformation of the European life science industry. But in acting together it is possible.”
In terms of sustainability Skandi Network has two main objectives and offers two benefits. “Our first objective is to investigate realistic technological solutions for sustainable fuels, vehicles, and refrigeration technologies.”
The second objective Rangel said is “to design a sustainable roadmap for the environment by aligning partner actions in key areas to help reduce CO2 emissions across the network by 2030, in line with the Paris Climate Agreement, and to reach Zero Emission level in 2050 latest.”
The collaboration in Skandi Network will reduce emissions per shipment because of two facts: first is higher consolidation and drop factors in long haul and on the last mile because of the combination of national and international shipments.
The active temperature-controlled transport eliminates the need for temperature-controlled packaging solutions and passive packaging solutions, which leads to higher transport weights, higher return transports and/or higher waste and disposal cost.
