Cargo Facts Asia: Pandemic fuels need for cool-chain logistics tech integration

Efforts to improve airfreight’s cool-chain capabilities for pharmaceutical cargo were put to the test due to the recent need to deploy COVID-19 vaccines globally. The market demand for vaccines and improved cool-chain capabilities emphasized the need for an accelerated shift to digital accessibility and visibility, according to panelists during a live session on cool-chain logistics at this year’s Cargo Facts Asia virtual event on April 21. "Some stakeholders in our industry still have a concern that airlines are like a black-box — that once cargo is consigned to an airline, you don’t know what’s happening," said ANA Cargo's Executive Vice President of Global Marketing and Sales, Toshiya Tamada during the panel. "We have to strengthen process management, spend more time and money...to seamlessly connect upstream and downstream and make our processes visible to all stakeholders.” Other panelists also elaborated on the immediate necessary improvements for cool-chain technology and processes. Other than speed, accuracy and the ability to be nimble and adaptable, freight forwarders and carriers need to add in other systems that address the need for remote monitoring capabilities and other ways of accessing information on pharma shipments, said Nazri Othman, senior vice president of cargo services at Singapore-based ground handler and gateway services provider SATS. [caption id="attachment_95366" align="alignright" width="398"] Panelists from Polar Air Cargo, Emirates Skycargo, SATS, FedEx Express and ANA Cargo joined session 6 at Cargo Facts Asia 2021[/caption] To solve any potential concerns on temperature excursions from aircraft to facility, the panelists discussed increased investments in cold storage facilities , such as SATS’ Coolport facility which opened in 2010, and specialty equipment like cool dollies and ultra-low temperature freezers, utilized by companies represented on the session including SATS, Emirates SkyCargo and FedEx. The industry previously presented several risks around temperature excursions for pharma shippers and the increased focus and investment related to improving cool-chain processes has helped eliminate these risks, increasing volumes of pharma and perishable cargo moving by air. Looking ahead, the panelists are evolving their platforms to handle network demands while ensuring that they are future-ready, and the equating standards across the industries help each company learn useful solutions from each other. “One observation that I discovered as we went along is that it’s not a one-way direction, we [thought] that our model was the most complete and the most superior, but in so doing the equating the standards across our network, we actually learn from each other,” said Othman. For instance, in cities that do not have cool dollies, Othman said that there are other useful solutions like thermal blankets to protect perishable cargo on the ground. The Asia-Pacific region was dominant in healthcare logistics in 2020 for FedEx, and that trend is expected to continue, said Kawal Preet, president of FedEx Express for Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa Regions. She added that the global healthcare logistics market is forecast to reach a compound annual growth of 11% in the next four years, with Asia-Pacific accounting for 36% of that growth. “Asia’s economies are already highly integrated into the global supply chain but there are still opportunities for us to integrate more and this is really vital to enable large scale handling transportation and distribution of vaccines, pharma, life science and medical products particularly in regions with less developed infrastructure,” said Preet. “If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s the need for greater agility, resiliency and speed and I believe using technology is the right way to help integrate further, bringing enhanced visibility and connectivity across locations and markets. “Having that technology will allow us to overcome a lot of the challenges we face today,” she said.

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