TCL 2016: Don't be distracted by the cost of compliance, consider the cost of non-compliance

Last month, over 450 pharma & biotech professionals connected to the cool chain industry gathered for the annual Temperature Controlled Logistics Europe Conference.

Chaired by Graham Martin from Pfizer, the four day event featured thought leadership from a range of sources including Val Petursson Executive Director of Logistics from Allergan who discussed mergers and acquisitions and their impact on the cool chain. The session from Ruud van der Geer of MSD was seen as a highlight for the conference, as he illustrated MSD’s approach to GDP and the impact on manufacturing vs transportation.

Image: Ruud van der Geer presenting his session

Attendees were given an inside look into the temperature control efforts in neighboring markets including food – by representative of McDonalds and the floral industry – from the Senior Supply Chain Consultant at FloraHolland. Although it was noted that pharmaceuticals will inevitably demand more expensive and thorough temperature evidencing, these sessions allowed viewers to cherrypick the most relevant and useful aspects to be cross applied.

Image: Seafreight working group in the middle of their session

Sessions also channeled down to being regionally specific, looking at supply chains in India as well as a case study in Africa involving the supply of the ebola vaccine. Predictions for the future of the industry were also made alongside discussing the latest ways to preserve supply chain integrity. [inlinead] Attendees were urged to consider "the price of non compliance", rather than being preoccupied with "what is the cost of compliance." The cost of non compliance was stressed as a prospect that could be valued as a multi-billion pound feat – leading to potentially losing a product from a market and then facing years before it would be able to return to market - if it ever did.

Image: Chairman quizzing a panel at the event

This event hosted the launch of the Cold Chain IQ Seafreight Working Group and the results of the body’s first annual meeting. Unsurprisingly, the shift from airfreight to seafreight arose within discussions, looking at the challenge of new products that need to be shipped at low volume.

Image: The Oceanfreight Working Group in the middle of their session

One attendee noted how they found it difficult to source 20 foot containers for shipping and that they had been informed that this was going to get increasingly harder. It was added that given enough notice, customized requirements can usually be met by suppliers.

The approaching digital age was of prime focus, with tools such as thermal environment simulators being presented as a key tactic to inform decisions in relation to likely climate conditions on route.

The conference also featured the igloo center, which held live demos from solution providers, as well as intimate interactive discussion groups held for only pharma and biotech professionals only. Video footage will soon to be released onto Cold Chain IQ.

Image- Igloo center session about to commence.

Image- Interactive discussion tables in full swing

Also, leaders within the industry were recognized at the event’s annual temperature controlled logistics awards ceremony, see the winners in our awards coverage here .

Image: Renate de Walle, Director Product Market Group Pharmaceutical Logistics AFKL and Dominic Hyde, Managing Director va-Q-tec Limited, celebrating their award win

Also, congratulations to the winner of the Cold Chain IQ Selfie competition: Elio Vari – Warehouse and Logistics Manager global Manufacturing and Supply of Merck Serono, who wins a 2 night stay in London.

Takehomes from the event included but were not restricted to:

Seafreight : Time optimize shipments through consolidations, charters, dock sweeps and peak management.

Security and integrity: Adopt risk based assessments to create a plan for maintaining supply chain integrity as well as contingency responses.

Partners : Gain a comprehensive understanding of your supply chain before making any changes and selecting the correct partner for the project.

PQ Qualifications are important – Even though some pharma firms can question their necessity, these qualifications identify whether the environment conditions or movements within the market are being adequately considered and whether seasonal data is being used. – These questions may also be asked in audits.

Risk assessments : Risk assessment programs supporting product stability data can demonstrate that short term deviations of the labeled storage conditions have no impact on product quality and investigation can be limited.

Standards: Industry wide standard temperature ranges need to be defined and agreed.

Nicole Goodwin Conference Director noted: "This year’s event has really brought the logistics community together - the importance of the topic and the impact on the generics industry has meant that we’ve had more pharma and bio companies represented than ever before.

"Throughout the 4 days worth of presentations and networking, one thing has remained the focus – how to remain compliant in a cost-effective manner. It has been really interesting to hear the practical approaches that different companies are taking to achieve this. I’m looking forward to the 2017 London event!"