ABU DHABI (March 14, 2017) – Amsterdam Airport Schiphol’s Pharma Gateway has been given a €1 million (US$1.07 million) grant to come up with an early warning system for pharmaceutical shipments.
According to Schiphol, the subsidy was granted by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research and TKI Dinalog, the Dutch Institute for Advanced Logistics.
The Pharma Gateway Amsterdam, which also celebrated its first anniversary, will collect and monitor data from pharmaceutical shipments in order to identify anomalies such as temperature excursions. The PGA, working with Cargonaut, the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences and the Delft University of Technology, will then use that data to build the system, which will alert shippers when there is an issue with their consignment.
The project starts this month and the results are expected in September or October 2017.
“We are listening to shippers’ needs and working to improve transparency and cooperation in the pharma supply chain,” said Jonas van Stekelenburg, cargo director at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol [left in photo], speaking at the 11th IATA World Cargo Symposium in Abu Dhabi. “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.”
The Pharma Gateway Amsterdam was formed at the 10th World Cargo Symposium in Berlin and currently consists of 13 members, seven of which have achieved the Center of Excellence for Independent Validators in Pharmaceutical Logistics certification.
The subsidy will also be used for the further development of Schiphol’s Green Fast Lanes initiative from Frankfurt to Amsterdam, according to van Stekelenburg.
