DHL expands global Thermonet network in the Americas

DHL Forwarding, a subsidiary of global express delivery and logistics service provider DHL recently announced the addition of 13 new locations to its global Thermonet network of Certified Life Science Stations in the Americas.

Established in June 2013, DHL Thermonet is an air freight product geared towards the life sciences and healthcare sectors for the DHL Network of Life Sciences and Healthcare facilities and provides shippers with a transparent and regulatory compliant platform that allows them to manage temperature-sensitive shipments of pharmaceutical products and medical devices.

The stations are also comprised of:
-seamless temperature visibility along the supply chain;
-24/7 proactive monitoring and intervention based on pre-determined touch points and DHL’s RFID SmartSensor technology, that is also GDP certified;
-Temperature data and logistics events can be accessed via the proprietary LifeTrack IT platform that also houses all product-specific SOPs, facilitating early intervention and simplifying document control; and
- several of the facilities provide temperature monitoring, dry ice replenishing, active and non-active container handling to ensure product quality at all times

In a previous interview with LM, David Bang, CEO of LifeConEx, a DHL Global Forwarding subsidiary and end-to-end life sciences cold chain logistics provider, said the impetus for this offering was driven by customer needs in terms of how it could take its services to the next level while leveraging its existing capabilities.

“One of the key messages from customers was that their temperature-controlled share of products was growing every year and becoming more of a challenge,” he said. “The other part is the regulatory compliance part, which is another concern for customers, especially regarding the European Union Good Distribution Practices. Also, customers said they wanted a cold chain service that is also cost-effective and also with higher visibility. This is essentially an answer for customers now as well as in the future.”

DHL Global Forwarding said the new locations are in Buenos Aires, Argentina; Santiago, Chile; Bogota, Colombia; Toronto, Canada; Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, Brazil; Mexico City, Mexico; Panama City, Panama; San Juan, Puerto Rico; Caracas and Valencia, Venezuela; and Boston and New York in the U.S. DHL said these facilities offer 35° to 46° F (+2° to +8° C) cold storage space to serve its global customer base in the Life Sciences & Healthcare sector with temperature-controlled air freight shipment needs. The company also previously added eight U.S.-based locations in Atlanta, Chicago, Cincinnati, Los Angeles, Miami, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.

Looking to the future, DHL said it plans to add more than 65 global Certified Life Science Stations by the end of 2014 and 80 by the end of 2015, and some of these facilities will have additional storage space.

Also driving this expansion, according to DHL, is that over the past years temperature-controlled products in the pharmaceutical sector have gained traction, due in large part to biotechnology products that need to be kept in a strict temperature range during transportation. DHL also cited the EvaluatePharma World Preview 2013’s statistic that global sales of biotechnology products have tripled from $56 billion in 2004 to an estimated $167 billion in 2013, with more growth expected in the coming years.