Apr - May 19

Global Pharma Tracker programme launches

Air freight data-sharing and visibility initiative completes a successful proof of concept and pilot phase in a collaboration between tech specialist Nallian and Pharma.Aero, reports Will Waters

Data-sharing specialist Nallian has launched an early-adopter programme for its Global Pharma Tracker data-sharing platform, following a successful proof of concept and pilot phase in collaboration with pharma transport quality-improvement and best-practice grouping Pharma.Aero and its members.

Nallian describes the Global Pharma Tracker as “the world’s first third-party data-sharing platform for end-to-end tracking and monitoring of temperature-controlled pharma shipments by air”. Claiming that it provides unparalleled levels of transparency and visibility, Nallian said the service “empowers pharma actors to efficiently detect, act upon and ultimately prevent costly temperature excursions – currently causing billions worth of product loss every year”.

Redefining temperature-controlled pharma shipments

Launching the early-adopter programme at IATA’s World Cargo Symposium in Singapore, Nallian highlighted the fragmented nature of the global pharma air cargo supply chain, involving multiple partners including shippers, carriers, ground handlers, forwarders, cold-chain service providers and airport authorities. “In this fragmented supply chain, detecting excursions and defining why and where they happened is today a complex, time-consuming and manual process,” it noted. “With data sitting in silos, detecting, examining and acting upon temperature excursions is time-consuming and costly.”

The Belgian IT specialist firm said the Global Pharma Tracker platform integrates logistics, temperature, and quality data from this fragmented supply chain into a single, real-time view, noting: “This gives all stakeholders access to an enhanced data stream, providing valuable insights into their cargo flows and end-to-end visibility across the network. It empowers them to efficiently and unequivocally answer questions such as: ‘where did the excursion happen?’ and ‘what caused it?’. Historical performance analysis will ultimately allow them to adopt a pro-active approach that prevents excursions from happening in the future,” Nallian said.

It said the platform registers all events and responsible parties, using participants’ legacy systems and investments to tap into existing data in order to create a “unique overlay of temperature, quality and logistics information” that will include MAWB, HAWB, and IoT data. But “only parties related to a shipment” can see the data, and only those parts that are shared with them, Nallian stressed, noting: “The data owner always stays in control of who sees which part of his data.”

Early adopters

The Global Pharma Tracker Platform is now being made available “to pharmaceutical actors who are keen to gain full control of their pharma shipments and set the standard for global pharma visibility”, Nallian said, following its successful proof of concept and pilot phase. Those initial trials were conducted in collaboration with Pharma.Aero and its user group, including leading pharma shippers, handlers, airport authorities, forwarders and carriers such as Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, MSD, Brussels Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Mumbai Airport, Brussels Airport, Changi Airport, and DHL Global Forwarding.

Pharma.Aero selected Nallian to develop the data-sharing capabilities for the programme following the successful use by Pharma.Aero founding partner Brussels Airport of the ‘Nallian for Air Cargo’ suite of products, which has helped to connect and build the airport’s now-thriving cargo community and their communications capabilities and collaborative activities. Nallian for Air Cargo is a “collaborative solution suite that enables cargo communities to operate in a connected, integrated way – improving performance and transparency for all actors in the network”.

Jean Verheyen, CEO of Nallian, commented: “We are excited to bring the benefits of our open data-sharing platform to the pharmaceutical industry. Proven to generate transparency and efficiency across local cargo communities, expanding these to a global network such as the pharma supply chain is a logical next step in our ambition to bring the benefits of digitization and collaboration to the air cargo industry.

“Users of the Global Pharma Tracker will leverage the benefits manifold: internally, within their local community, across validated pharma corridors, and ultimately across the global network. With a cost of US$35 billion caused by temperature excursions, we trust the Global Pharma Tracker represents a major opportunity for the industry.”

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