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Media Contact:
Devendra Mishra
Executive Director
Phone: 818-224-1552
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HOW WILL THE KNOWLEDGE, EXPERIENCE & CONTROL TOWER OF AIT WORLDWIDE LOGISTICS HELP NAVIGATE THROUGH THE PERFECT STORM FACED BY TRANSPORTATION & LOGISTICS IN HEALTHCARE? |
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Calabasas, July 13, 2022. In the current murky supply chain of bio-pharma in the post-COVID-19 marketplace, where ports show no signs of abatement and prices for a vast array of goods are rising, time alone will not make the disruption appear in the global network of transportation. Furthermore, cost, reliability, and integrity of delivery of healthcare are in serious jeopardy today because of the seismic shifts in transportation caused by external and internal factors. Devendra Mishra, the Executive Director of BSMA, had the unique opportunity to interview Andrew Schadegg, the Vice President of Life Sciences, North America for AIT Worldwide Logistics’ Life Sciences Division.
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Formerly, Andrew was the President of Unitrans International Corporation between 2012 and 2022. Unitrans International Corporation was a leader in providing bespoke logistics solutions to life science companies, primarily in the biologics field, and was acquired by AIT Worldwide Logistics in 2019. Earlier, he was an executive of Danzas Ltd., a predecessor company of DHL Global Forwarding, in various capacities in Switzerland, Venezuela and the United States.
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AIT Worldwide Logistics Life Sciences Division delivers specialized transportation – via air, road, rail, and sea – for companies that produce pharmaceuticals, biotechnology-based medicines, medical devices, and/or biomedical technologies. These shipments may require additional services, including customs clearance, warehouse management (cold and shelf-stable), white glove delivery, and more. AIT delivers planning services to some of the most demanding, remote, and dangerous corners of the world and integrates services from procurement to delivery at the final destination. Its global reach includes North America, Europe, Asia, Middle East, Africa, and South America. The life science transportation solutions include temperature reporting and smart asset monitoring (tracking humidity, falls, altitude, and more), re-icing, phase-change materials, global cold chain warehousing, refrigerated "reefer" trucks and trailers, thermal blankets, and active and passive cold chain packaging.
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HIGHLIGHTS OF THE INTERVIEW |
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DEVENDRA: What were the three greatest challenges you were called upon to handle during the last two years of the pandemic?
ANDREW: First, there was a massive reduction of capacity with widespread backlogs. But, of course, medications still need to ship and most of those shipments have specific timeframes. Our goal is to get the right product in the right condition to the right patient every time. Second, rates shot up significantly for nearly all markets – in some instances, costs increased by 300-400%. We had to engage in many discussions with clients about rates and ultimately, some elected to not ship. Finally, the dramatic changes in the shipping environment meant we were unable to adhere to “agreed and implemented lane procedures,” i.e., standard operating procedures (SOPs) for every lane where we handled regular shipments of finished goods. Clients agree to SOPs based on risk assessment, so being forced to pivot away from SOPs resulted in higher risk profiles. Note, the pandemic is not over, and challenges are expected to continue. In some regions, capacity has recovered to near pre-pandemic levels, but there are still significant gaps between U.S. and Asia and between Europe and Asia. One additional clarification: 70% of our division’s business is for life sciences customers, but we also provide other critical planning for clients in aerospace, defense, oil/energy, and other industries.
DEVENDRA: How have you successfully integrated Air, Ocean, Domestic, and Customs/Compliance requirements of exports and imports of the US drug companies?
ANDREW: AIT’s compliance group has been instrumental in providing fully compliant services to our pharmaceutical clients while also assisting with regulatory questions in new markets around the world. Geopolitical events in 2022 making innovative compliance more important than ever.
DEVENDRA: What is the nature of your relationship with Envirotainer on achieving sustainability of the environment?
ANDREW: As a general policy, we are packaging neutral, and we try not to favor one packaging provider over another because we work with all of them. We seek to provide multiple solutions, allowing clients to choose what they want, and we will work with whichever provider the client has validated for their specific shipments. Envirotainer’s focus is airline loading and we are one of the largest U.S. clients by number of leases. Their units eliminate the use of disposables including packaging, coolant and throwaway batteries, and there are 10-15 year old containers still in service. We use them on main lines, but they only fit on widebody aircraft.
DEVENDRA: Mitigation of risk is of paramount concern in our industry committed to saving human lives. How do your Control Tower and Continuous Surveillance System enable timely monitoring of shipments and their visibility for real time decision making?
ANDREW: Mitigation starts very early in the supply chain process when packaging, routes and potential markets are discussed. We use a risk-based approach when developing the SOPs with clients – including advanced risk assessment software to build optimal solutions – and we only execute once the SOP has been agreed upon by both parties. That all takes place before we begin shipping. Once shipments begin, our control towers utilize the tracking and surveillance tools to take weather, strikes, etc. into account. We adjust as needed to ensure patients receive the right product in the right condition at the right time.
DEVENDRA: How do you overcome the Achilles Heel of adverse validated package transit time, temperature ranges, destination customs clearance and handling timeframes?
ANDREW: This goes back to careful planning to understand and mitigate risks in advance with well-conceived SOPs that include reliable carriers, reliable airports and appropriate packaging. We especially have to plan for customs delays which are a frequent issue – in some countries, delays can last as many as 10 days. It is crucial to have a process in place where goods can be stored at the right temperature and/or coolant can be replenished before it expires.
DEVENDRA: How have you handled the critical requirements of personalized service, consistent delivery, and meticulous attention to detail for Cell and Gene Therapy?
ANDREW: Cell and Gene Therapy (CGT) supply chains for both autologous and allogeneic products are completely different from other life sciences supply chains and different skill sets are required. Our teams are well-equipped because there are some transferrable skills from the aircraft on ground (AOG) shipping we do for the aerospace industry. It is a circular supply chain, meaning the cycle begins with the patient, then the shipment is delivered to a factory or lab setting, and the cycle is complete once it is delivered back to the patient. CGT timelines are extraordinarily tight – the pickup window is often just 15-30 minutes from where a patient is located – and the chain of custody must be crystal clear. Transit times can be between 10-18 hours, then 18-24 hours going back to the patient, and not all patients live in the vicinity of a major airport. Adhering to the tight timelines and maintaining a strict chain of custody are the two primary concerns.
DEVENDRA: Are the current transportation-related problems of supply chain going away in biopharma in the next two years? If not, how would you prioritize your efforts to serve the industry?
ANDREW: The challenges are not going away. We foresee new trade barriers, and many clients are reconsidering their supply chains, which are already stretched thin. And it is not just the finished products, but also the delivery systems, packaging materials, ingredients, and manufacturing components that require robust supply chains. Personalized medicine like CGT will become more prevalent and forwarders will need to adapt to staff up with subject matter experts who have those specialized skills mentioned above. Our goal is to continue to provide patients and clients with reliable, cost-effective solutions for the delivery of life-saving products. To achieve that goal, we are continuously evaluating, testing, and implementing new solutions for our technology, packaging and shipping options.
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About AIT WORLDWIDE LOGISTICS
AIT Worldwide Logistics is a global freight forwarder that helps its customers grow by expanding access to markets all over the world. For more than 40 years, the Chicago-based supply chain solutions leader has relied on a consultative approach to build a global network and trusted partnerships in nearly every industry, including aerospace, automotive, consumer retail, food, government, healthcare, high-tech, industrial and life sciences. In more than 100 worldwide locations across Asia, Europe and North America, AIT’s subject matter experts apply scalable, user-friendly technology to customize door-to-door deliveries via sea, air, road and rail—on time and on budget.
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About BSMA
BSMA - Driving Innovation in the Life Sciences Supply Chain
Since its inception in 2007, BSMA is a global organization that fosters Innovation and Adoption of disruptive technologies within the end-to-end supply chain of the Life Sciences industry. With offices in California (USA), Brussels (Belgium) and Mumbai (India), BSMA promotes collaboration and networking between professionals of the biotech, pharmaceutical, academic and medical diagnostics enterprises. The Alliance partners with industry, academia, foundations, suppliers, technology enablers, research institutions, trade organizations and the government to improve productivity, quality, product and service integrity, risk mitigation, managerial talent development and patient care globally. It is also the home of start-up companies engaged in business development and scale up.
CONTACT: Devendra Mishra, Executive Director,
Phone: 818-224-1552
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