SCHIPHOL INVESTS ONE MILLION EUROS IN DEVELOPMENT OF PHARMA GATEWAY EARLY WARNING SYSTEM FOR SHIPPERS
Research grant will be used by the Pharma Gateway Amsterdam Community to analyse shipment data and extend the community Cloud of Schiphol with performance management and exception alerting features
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, March 14th 2017 – Amsterdam Airport Schiphol is developing an early warning system for pharma shippers, using a one million euro subsidy awarded by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO), and TKI Dinalog, the Dutch Institute for Advanced Logistics.
The money will fund data collection and monitoring of Pharma Gateway Amsterdam (PGA) shipments in order to identify exceptions such as temperature incursions. This data will then be used to design a model to alert shippers when there has been an issue with their consignment.
Schiphol has teamed up with Air France KLM Cargo, Cargonaut, and PGA members for the project, which starts this month with results expected later this year. The Schiphol Cargo Community and Cargonaut will add performance management and alerting capabilities to the community Cloud; Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences and Delft University of Technology will do the underlying research, contribute to the development, and measure the benefits for shippers and their transport suppliers.
“We are listening to shippers’ needs and working to improve transparency and cooperation in the pharma supply chain,” said Jonas van Stekelenburg, Cargo Director, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. “Pharma shippers are asking for more visibility so they can have confidence that their sensitive cargo is being handled safely through the supply chain and find solutions if there are issues such as temperature incursions. “This research will enable us to develop a system capable of stepping up to those challenges.”
Marcel de Nooijer, EVP Air France KLM Cargo said the pharmaceutical industry was “a leading segment within the Air France KLM Cargo strategy.” “We are keen to improve the supply chain in collaboration with other parties in the chain, contributing to overall higher product integrity for pharmaceutical shipments,” he said.
Sebastiaan Scholte, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Jan de Rijk Logistics, a member of PGA, said the initiative was “excellent”. “We hope that many other air cargo supply chain communities will follow this example and work together, because this is how the whole industry will improve,” he said.
PGA, formed a year ago with the aim of providing a transparent and qualified process, which can be monitored, includes 13 members representing forwarders, ground handlers, hauliers, and airlines.
“Improving quality and transparency in the pharma supply chain is a community wide effort, and this valuable research will help us demonstrate the service quality our community efforts achieve,” said Ferry van der Ent, Director Business Development, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol.
PGA members are expected to be certified to the IATA CEIV Pharma standard, and benefit from cooperative and competitive knowledge sharing.