DHL Global Forwarding, the air and ocean freight specialist of Deutsche Post DHL, officially opened a new logistics centre for the pharmaceuticals industry, in Leipzig. The facility, covering almost 3,000 square metres, located in direct proximity to the Leipzig/Halle airport and serves as a competence center for the transport, transport preparation, temporary storage, and transport follow-up of active and passive temperature controlled pharmaceutical products. Investment volumes in the new facility amount to around 3.4 million euros (US$4.4 million) and have resulted in the creation of 30 new jobs.
“With the opening of this new life sciences and healthcare competence centre we are further expanding our network of temperature controlled stations to support our customers’ global expansion and growth aspirations,” said Angelos Orfanos, president, Life Sciences and Healthcare, DHL Customer Solutions & Innovation. “Providing quality service to life-saving products is a big responsibility, which we are committed to by continuously investing in sector-specific expertise and infrastructure.”
The facility includes a 2,175-square-metre warehouse and office space of 600 square metres. In July 2014, it was certified in accordance with the good distribution practice guidelines, a quality system for logistics centres that handle medicinal products, and offers two temperature controlled areas for pharmaceutical products that must be kept at a constant temperature between either 2 to 8 degrees or 15 to 25 degrees Celsius The facilities are equipped with numerous temperature and humidity sensors that immediately sound an alarm should conditions fall outside of established parameters.
DHL Global Forwarding, together with its customer Octapharma, designed the new pharmaceutical cold storage facility and is responsible for comprehensively managing the transport and warehousing of active and passive air freight shipments.
“Our products based on human plasma have to be delivered to customers reliably, fast and on time, without fluctuations in temperature,” said Marc Rechsteiner, global senior director of operational excellence at Octapharma. “We are delighted to have found in DHL a logistics partner that is versed in industry requirements and can ensure that our air freight products are stored, handled and distributed in accordance with statutory regulations.”
The logistics center will primarily provide DHL Thermonet, the standard product from DHL Global Forwarding for managing temperature sensitive air freight shipments. DHL Thermonet provides 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 GDP certified.
The new building in Leipzig has also been audited in line with additional standards and been accredited as a qualified envirotainer provider, thus ensuring competent handling of Envirotainer containers and certification in accordance with ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 standards for quality and environmental management.
In the future, 30 employees will organise the transport and customs clearance of air freight and ocean freight shipments mostly for regional customers. The logistics centre will also serve as an air freight transshipment hub for pharmaceuticals going to Germany, Poland and Slovakia. On-site staff will coordinate transport solutions for the automotive, chemical and technology industries as well as the life sciences and healthcare sectors.
