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Annual Cold Chain Summit discusses infrastructure issues, logistics gaps
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Saturday, 18 May, 2013, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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Akshay Kalbag, Mumbai
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fiogf49gjkf0d Development of cold chain infrastructure and bridging of logistics gaps were some of the key topics discussed at the second edition of the Annual Cold Chain Summit, which was held here on May 16 and 17, 2013. The event was researched and developed by International Quality and Productivity Centre (IQPC).
Day 1 – A Transitioning Market
Ryan Viegas, vice-president, supply chain and procurement, Watson Pharma Pvt. Ltd, chaired the summit. The topic of the first session was 'The cold chain movement in India - A transitioning market.’
Thomas Lobo, director, global external supply, India Region, Pfizer, and Viegas were the participants in the opening keynote panel discussion, titled 'Insight into India's most successful cold chain management systems, key learning and future opportunities.'
'Avoiding disruptions during transportation of drugs to maintain product quality' was divided into two sessions - a presentation on 'Bridging the logistics gaps between airports, ground handlers and customers' by Viegas, and an executive exchange networking session.
The second session was divided into two presentations. Debashis Basu, head, supply chain, Roche Diagnostics India Pvt. Ltd was the first speaker. His topic was 'Improving your supply chain and transportation infrastructure to eliminate space and quality constraints. The second speaker was John Hardman, director, Healthcare Sales India, Envirotainer. He spoke about 'Active Unit Load Devices (ULDs) for India.'
The third session was divided into three sessions, a panel discussion and open floor discussions. The first of the three sessions was titled 'Highlighting India's Cold Chain Strategies for Biologicals.' The speakers were Prasanna Sampath, head of logistics, Biocon Ltd, and Ashwin Rao, team leader, Cold Chain, Biocon Ltd.
The second was titled 'Achieving optimum cost savings when using passive shippers.' The speakers were Rajnish Agrawal, director, India sales and development, Emball'iso, and Nick Geary, director, global business development, Emball'iso. The speaker for the third - titled 'Overcoming the challenges in cold chain logistics' - was Rajesh Vij, general manager, imports and exports, Wockhardt.
Sampath, Rao and Ranjeet Patil, chief executive officer, Fresh Express Logistics, were the panellists for the discussion, titled 'Complying with international regulation and future Indian good distribution practices (GDP) guidelines to protect the drug supply chain.' The floor was then thrown open for discussions, and day one ended with the closing remarks by the chairman.
Day 2 – Roundtable Session
On the second day, there was a breakout roundtable session with four groups - namely Group A (Auditing distributors and forwarding agents to ensure adequate infrastructure and compliant quality practices); Group B (Understanding reusable/recyclable containers and the reverse logistics transportation costs); Group C (Mitigating temperature deviation risk in India where severe temperature fluctuations exist north to south), and Group D (Monitoring and tracking temperature-controlled medicines in the Indian and global supply chain).
Summary of roundtable session
There were two speakers at the roundtable session - namely Vikas Chandra, general manager, distribution and logistics, Abbott Healthcare, and Rajiv Sharma, head, supply chain management, Panacea Biotech Ltd.
Chandra said, "Two contrasting views about audit were expressed by the participants seated at the round tables. While one group said audit is a negative word, another group said audits are necessary because many a times, the expectations of the users are not adhered to. An audit is basically a periodic interaction between vendors and users."
"In fact, the pro-audit group said surprise audit is a must to ensure better quality-compliant processes. It acts as an incentive and prevents complacency from creeping in. All one has to do during an audit is maintain a checklist and remove redundancies," he said.
Chandra added, "In fact, audit can also be likened to an examination, for which one has to prepare in order to succeed. The quality assurance and logistics departments must work in tandem. The steps to be taken while selecting vendors are (a) identification of vendors, (b) validation of the selected vendors, and (c) mapping quality assurance checkpoints." He also made a presentation about the best warehousing practices and key performance parameters of a warehouse.
Sharma made a presentation on the need to develop an end-to-end cold chain infrastructure to ensure the quality and safety of biopharmaceutical products when switching between modes of transport.
"The vendors come into contact with the customers. While it is crucial that both have the knowledge of the product, their interaction will be aimed at sharing information and entering service-level agreements with clearing and forwarding agents. Both active and passive cold chain solutions are available," he said.
Sharma, who echoed Chandra's view that an audit is an incentive for those involved in the transportation of goods to keep in mind timeliness and quality while delivering them, said, "The knowledge of the product would be especially handy while monitoring and tracking temperature-controlled medicines in the supply chain, because that can help them prevent excursions."
"There should be GPS on trucks and cloud solutions in order to get online solutions in real-time," he added.
The speaker for the last session of the day, titled 'Cold chain 360 degrees: Analysing the pharmaceutical supply chain,' was Surendra Deodhar, head, supply chain management, Reliance Life Sciences.
He said that generics was a rapidly-growing segment, adding that the number of pharmaceutical players was increasing by 10-15 per cent. "The objective is to reduce the cost at every stage of the pharma supply chain without compromising on the integrity," he added.
Deodhar spoke about four potential bottlenecks, namely people, processes, infrastructure and customs and practices, and threw light on the challenges faced in four situations - namely (a) existing products in existing markets; (b) existing products in new markets; (c) new products in existing markets; and (d) new products in new markets. The unavailability of packaging material is among the challenges.
"The supply chain is influenced by two factors, namely internal factors (which are cultural and business-specific) and external factors. The former includes respect for quality and attitude towards regulatory compliance, and the latter includes transit temperature and pressure," he said.
Deodhar, whose presentation also focussed on the components of active and passive systems, said, "There is a need to create a shared network to handle smaller volumes; have a parcel service in place; start refuelling facilities; renovate, and find new sources of energy."
"Don't underestimate your ability to innovate. Stick to the basics and create solutions that are suited to your business environment," he concluded.
The session ended with a panel discussion on the advantages and disadvantages of in-house facilities vis-a-vis third-party logistics service providers. Deodhar and Chandra were the panelists.
Envirotainer, the active cold chain, was the gold partner of the event. Softbox Temperature Control Packaging Systems was the lanyard partner. Lufthansa Cargo was the lunch partner. Pelican Biopharma and Dyzle were the network solution partners. Emball'iso was the associate partner. Fresh Express Cool Chain Partners was the panel partner.
Weather Shield India - whose offerings include thermal pallet covers and blankets - was the exhibitor. ColdChainIQ (a temperature control logistics and quality network); Indian Transport and Logistics News; SupplyChainBrain; MNT (Medical News Today); B2B Purchase, and ACE (Aviation-Cargo-Express) were the media partners.
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