DHL launches industry-changing temperature controlled Life Sciences air freight service

DHL Global Forwarding, the air and ocean freight specialist within Deutsche Post DHL, launches DHL Thermonet, a new air freight product tailored to the Life Sciences and Healthcare sector. This global service is a new addition to DHL's network of Life Sciences and Healthcare facilities and offers customers a transparent and a regulatory compliant platform enabling them to manage their temperature-sensitive shipments of pharmaceutical products and medical devices.

"The global market for pharmaceuticals has reached a total volume of over USD 1 trillion in sales, with the US, Japan and China being the largest markets. The Life Sciences and Healthcare industry is a key sector for DHL and we are heavily investing in new products and services to provide comprehensive solutions to the needs of our customers. ", says Roger Crook, CEO DHL Global Forwarding, Freight and Executive Board Sponsor for the Life Sciences and Healthcare sector.

DHL Thermonet provides higher visibility as a standard offering in the temperature controlled shipping arena by integrating proactive monitoring and intervention 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, with SmartSensor RFID technology, an in-house development from DHL's Solutions & Innovation division. The SmartSensor monitors the ambient temperature of the shipment while in transit. As an optional service, near-product temperature of the goods during transport can be recorded utilizing the SmartSensor XP technology, enabling more targeted intervention.

temperature-controlled supply chains will become even more important

The data collected by the SmartSensors uploads automatically to the LifeTrack IT platform via a web portal. Developed specifically for the life sciences and healthcare sector by LifeConEx, a subsidiary of DHL Global Forwarding, LifeTrack is the integrated operational tool for all logistical and temperature data, from standard operating procedures creation through shipment monitoring and intervention, for DHL Thermonet. In addition, LifeTrack simplifies and automates document control and change management.

"The current situation within the Life Sciences and Healthcare market, facing an increasingly regulated environment, demands a higher level of service compliance. By means of DHL Thermonet, we will meet our customers' requirements, enhance our cold chain activities and expand our market leading capabilities in Life Sciences and Healthcare, one of DHL's key focus sectors", explains Angelos Orfanos, President, Life Sciences and Healthcare DHL Customer Solutions & Innovation.

Temperature-sensitive products currently make up a quarter of global pharmaceutical sales. Due to the industry's increasing shift of new products from chemical-based to biotech and specialty drugs, growth of this segment is expected to accelerate, generating fifty percent of sales within the next five years. Consequently, temperature-controlled supply chains will become even more important than today.1

Life Sciences-specific training program has been launched

The majority of the top 20 Life Sciences and Healthcare companies are based in the U.S. and Europe. Looking to 2015 and beyond, China, India, Brazil and other developing countries are expected to be the key drivers of growth in the pharmaceutical and medical device sectors. Also manufacturing is increasingly migrating into these markets.

DHL Global Forwarding's network of Life Sciences Competence Centers will be certified through an internal audit process based on global Good Distribution Practices and upgraded to DHL Life Science certified stations. Additionally, a revitalized Life Sciences-specific training program has been launched to ensure a global knowledge standard of DHL Global Forwarding's dedicated Life Sciences staff.

DHL Global Forwarding is currently focusing on its base of over 30 Life Sciences competence centers around the globe, where it is implementing the DHL Thermonet standard. The service will continue to be rolled out in 2014, targeting 60 stations by the end of the year. Further network expansion is planned.