Case Study: Mastering the Delicate Logistics of High-value Drug Shipping

The Challenge

In the world of healthcare logistics, the stakes are extraordinarily high. For this manufacturer of high-end medicine for rare diseases, ensuring the safe and timely delivery of their life-saving products to Europe's leading hospitals was a pressing concern.

The client's requirements were stringent: the product needed to be maintained at a very specific temperature range (2 to 8°C) from start to finish, with a tight validation period of 66 hours. Any deviation, and the box would need to be returned.

Moreover, these shipments had to arrive on time to ensure hospital procedures could proceed as planned. Not only that, but the client also needed complete visibility and a simplified return procedure - a significant improvement from creating return labels themselves.

The Solution: UPS? Premier Gold and Silver

Understanding the gravity of these challenges, we implemented UPS Premier Gold for outbound shipments and UPS Premier Silver for returns. This ensured top-tier temperature protection for these high-value products, end-to-end.

Our UPS Premier Control Tower took charge of managing both outbound and return shipments, providing the client with full visibility and control over their precious cargo. To further simplify the process, we arranged for return labels to be printed at the origin and attached to each box.

We also introduced a dedicated evening pick-up run to take advantage of late cut-offs, ensuring that every minute of the 66-hour validation period was put to good use.

Results

The manufacturer experienced several significant benefits. Their shipments maintained end-to-end temperature protection within the allotted time in transit without the need for manual return creation. Moreover, returns from the customer could be processed the same day, saving invaluable time.

The proof was in the numbers. Since the start of our partnership, the client saw a +1% increase in time-in-transit performance compared to their previous provider. What's more, buoyed by the success of our solution, the client expanded their service from five countries to all countries in Europe.

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