Top 3 Battlefields: Active Vs. Passive Shipping Containers

When it comes to active versus passive shipping containers, the top three considerations when determining which is best for your cold chain network are (1) total delivered cost, (2) product requirements, and (3) equipment availability. In the active refrigeration market, the competition is improving, but Envirotainer is the dominate player in market--making active refrigeration quite expensive as it includes the challenge to obtain equipment in low volume ‘long and narrow’ shipping lanes. Active shippers are extremely heavy even when empty. Bulk passive shippers or pallet-size passive shippers are improving their thermal performance and their durability as well as coming down in price. It is time to relook at passive pallet shippers again.

Pharmaceutical manufacturers are taking another look at passive shipping as a cost effective option and from a performance point of view. With passive shippers, more flexibility on the size and the design materials of the shipper allow optimization, while the active shippers are really one-size-fits-all. The flexibility on the sizes on your passive shippers can really make some significant cost savings.

Pharmaceutical companies and others, especially those with freeze-sensitive refrigerated biologics, needed new solutions. Cold chain packaging technology has evolved. These advanced solutions, however, have a high barrier of entry due to price. The high price makes reusable systems logical in terms of cost and environmental impact but requires careful planning of your reverse logistics programs.

If you have the volume and the logistics capabilities to put together a reverse logistics program, either internally with your company or with a third-party logistics provider, the advantages are substantial. Consider the total delivered cost (TDC) model in some of these lanes. The best opportunity to take advantage of minimizing reverse logistics cost using a reusable passive shipper is through well-established lanes where volumes are predictable. Take into account the option of an incremental approach and convert a portion of that to a passive shipper lane. Active shippers can be used for any type of overflow or potential seasonal changes. Researching and finding the proper lanes is required to minimize variability and select the right passive shipper based on available transport lane data.

There are advantages from the passive system that are often overlooked. To be clear, active systems are fantastic pieces of equipment and, if properly maintained and properly operated in transit, have the opportunity for almost unlimited duration and minimal risks of any temperature excursions. However, that is a big “if”; counting on an active container that has been properly maintained and properly operated is always a concern. An active system is complex electromechanical technology; a passive system removes some risk because if a passive system is properly qualified and packed correctly, you will get consistent thermal performance. The risks are obvious if the planned duration goes longer than expected and the energy runs out of the passive system. In a well-defined lane, a passive system, because it is a simpler system to operate and maintain, actually reduces your risks as long as you can effectively manage duration and variability.

Naturally, you have to assess the product requirements when making the active versus passive shipper decision. One of the big challenges right now is controlling packaging costs for controlled room temperature (CRT) products. CRT product lines typically do not have the margin to absorb the costs of an active system. A well-designed and well-maintained cold chain using reusable passive packaging systems, especially at the CRT range, is being used to take cost out of that network.

The challenge coming from a product point of view is if you are considering shipping at the CRT range and even if you could afford to put it into the cold chain network, are you really going to have the capacity and the capabilities in active refrigeration network to handle CRT products?

If your answer is no, one of the advantages to a high volume lane and reusable passive bulk shipper is that you have the opportunity to evaluate actual lane requirements. Because the lane is high volume and repeatable, getting accurate thermal, shock, and vibration data profiles can give you a much better or a more accurate read on the actual requirements of the shipper in that specific lane. Often the maximum duration of pallet shippers are set against the industry standard thermal profile, but that thermal profile might not be necessarily the case in a well-defined lane with a large number of logistics controls already in place.

Always look at your specific application. If the challenge is variability in the duration or questions about the physical integrity of the shipper, it would make sense to gather some lane-specific data and compare that to the profiles against which the passive shippers were tested. A risk of overspending on packaging for hazards that really are not going to happen in a specific lane do exist. Start with a pre-qualified solution that’s been qualified to an industry standard thermal profile. Gather data to assess a lane-specific profile, both for temperature and physical integrity testing, to understand exactly what the expected performance capabilities are going to be for a specific bulk passive shipper. And then determine the actual need before starting your total delivered cost analysis.