Page 14 - ITLN May-June 2021 issue for Magzter

Cover Story
Temp-Controlled
Pharma Logistics

"This would require a significant
upgrade of the current storage
facilities that most cold chain and
logistics providers offer. With pharma
and life sciences evolving consistently
and requiring extreme temperatures,
Blue Dart is one of the few express
logistics providers to be able to carry
this time-sensitive shipment on our
aircraft," he said.

Geography of pharma cold chain
Since India is a large country and
pharma manufacturing is concentrated
in few pockets throughout the country,
logistics companies have to optimise
their operations according to routes,
geography and best transport modes
available in those areas.
Sharma described logistics
optimisation of the routes on which
temp-controlled pharmaceuticals are
moving as one of the biggest concerns.
"Largely the pharma manufacturing
roof. Presently, walk-in cold rooms base in India is concentrated around
and chest freezers are used to store Gujarat, Maharashtra, Telangana,
pharma and vaccines in tier 2 and Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
tier 3 cities which is not reliable and Hence, logistics hubs for pharma
scalable especially during a pandemic too are concentrated around these
like Covid-19. Also, the supply chain manufacturing zones. Optimisation
shall be made flexible and scalable so of the logistics routes is the biggest
that it can be ramped up fast during challenge faced by manufacturer &
emergencies," he noted. logistics companies as lack of reverse
Shinde explained that the primary load generation leads to demand and
challenge has always been about supply gaps for fleet operators resulting
balancing the packaging and in higher operating costs," he expressed.
transportation cost, especially in the He wants government policies
case of vaccines. While ensuring the to facilitate and encourage pharma
"The more insulated the packaging, manufacturers to spread their base
the higher the cost. Manufacturers are maximum utilization of to other states especially in central,
slowly shifting towards disposable and cold storages, we also eastern and northeastern states.
reusable packaging owing to the focus need to create small Shinde pointed out that, in the
on going green," he said. freezer centres in remote north, Baddi and Paonta Sahib in
Even though Salvi was sceptical areas to supply the Himachal Pradesh is a hub for major
about the gaps present in the supply vaccines. pharmaceuticals manufacturers in India.
chain, he was very positive about the "These places offer good scope for
industry and feels that the gaps can still Huned Gandhi clients seeking end-to-end logistics
be filled. Dachser solutions for their APIs and finished
"With the current vaccine storage goods in these regions," he said.
requirements, cold chain and logistics While in the East, he said that
organizations have been able to the manufacturing is positioned in metros Siliguri, now, is known as a gateway of
manoeuvre their way around any gaps it would be far easier than in the Tier 2 & Northeast India & is emerging as a newly
that were present. However, there may 3 cities," he said. developing area for pharma business.
still be some hiccups when it comes to Salvi pointed to the fact that the "Many pharma clients are now
the storage and transport of pharma latest developments in pharma are focusing on their logistics solutions in
equipment in the -70 degree Celsius DNA-based and these require a this region," he noted.
temperature range. The positioning of the storage temperature of -70 to -80 In the South, Shinde points out
manufacturing of the vaccine is crucial. If degree Celsius. that many of the pharma companies

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