Key air cargo technologies for shipping pharma

The air cargo industry must adhere to time and temperature requirements when shipping pharmaceuticals or lives could be lost. To meet these needs, the industry is increasingly relying on technology and innovation. [caption id="attachment_57143737" align="alignright" width="300"] Clockwise from above left are Air Cargo Next Deputy Editor Yael Katzwer; Jennifer Haigh, head of specialty products for the Americas at United Cargo; and Eric ten Kate, global health care sector leader at Ceva Logistics. (Photo/Air Cargo Next)[/caption] When transporting pharmaceuticals , track-and-trace technology allows each stakeholder in the supply chain to know where the cargo is in real time. Track-and-trace technology is often underpinned by the Internet of Things , which is a network of devices with sensors, processing ability and software that allows them to exchange data and coordinate operations. Monitoring conditions In addition to enabling tracking, technology allows stakeholders to monitor shipments for temperature excursions, Jennifer Haigh , head of specialty products for the Americas at United Cargo , said in Air Cargo Next ’s webinar “Air Cargo and Pharma: Using Technology to Save Lives” this week. To watch the webinar, click here. “One of the things we’re really excited about within United Airlines Cargo is we just recently released a new app within our system for our temp-control products,” Haigh said. “What this actually does is give our teams in the field the ability to do temperature checks and battery checks and automatically send [that information] through an app to our shippers, forwarders and everyone else.” Before the app, United communicated this information manually. “More and more logger equipment is available; more and more data lakes are being connected,” Eric ten Kate , global health care sector leader at Ceva Logistics , said in the webinar. “We can immediately see where the temperature excursions are and, basically mid-flight, you can also connect with the airline to understand what’s going on. “The real-time aspect is becoming more and more important and it’s becoming more and more the standard as well,” he said. Track-and-trace technology has come a long way, Haigh said. “The obvious piece of it is making sure if a shipment gets lost or if it gets rerouted, we know exactly where it is, but I think the other piece of it is the data that we get from that,” she said. “So, [if] we have an excursion, we have a discrepancy that’s filed. Now all that information is coming to us, whether it’s from a little tracker or it’s from a container. We’re able to look at that information and really figure out where things happened, and then that will allow us to better our processes going forward.” Data informs forecasts Collecting and analyzing data from across a pharma shipment’s journey, from manufacturer to patient , can create a whole, digital picture of that shipment. With this digital picture, AI and other forecasting tools can pinpoint potential issues for future shipments, according to Ceva ’s Ten Kate. “When looking at the forecasting aspect, we try to use as many data points as possible,” Ten Kate said. This requires “aligning all the different stakeholders, the end-to-end orchestration. If we have all the data that we have at hand, telemetries of a plane, the data that packaging providers provide … you can more or less determine what is going to go where.” Comprehensive carrier data is also vital to the process, according to Haigh. Data is important for “forecasting shipment readiness,” she said. “When is [the shipment] going to come to us? We know that flights are full. Capacity is pretty heavy right now, so we want to make sure we can make space for these.” Data collection also allows stakeholders to create digital twins, according to Haigh. Digital twins are simulations that use real-time and historical data to simulate outcomes of various actions. “This allows us to kind of create a scenario and then feed into that scenario and determine what the outcome is going to be,” Haigh said. “With weather, with excursions, with lane risk assessments, that sort of thing, [it is] being able to kind of create that and then see, ‘If I put this in, if I move this here, how’s that going to react?’”

Key air cargo technologies for shipping pharma

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