Supporting Superior Pharma & Life Sciences Transportation
Extra Strength Visibility
In the pharmaceutical industry, fast and accurate global transportation can truly be life or death stakes. On-time delivery becomes the most mission-critical component of the supply chain.
That’s why Mölnlycke, a global medical products and solutions company, entrusted MercuryGate to manage a vast global logistics footprint. The outsourced carriers and outdated legacy system did not provide Mölnlycke with the necessary visibility, and it created challenges with sharing the data.
An enterprise control tower for global transportation operations was just what the doctor ordered. This solution provided Mölnlycke with end-to-end visibility to make data-driven transportation decisions. “The MercuryGate team worked with us every step of the way to ensure a successful implementation that will continue to benefit the company and the healthcare providers and thousands of patients they serve.” — Daniel Ekvall, Global TMS Development Manager
Compounded Fleet Management
A national pharmacy chain was struggling with its network of couriers. The network consisted of ten different regional courier companies, running eight different software solutions, creating massive inefficiencies and uncertainties in the delivery process. There was no clear way to verify proper payment based on mileage and stops, and about 10% of all deliveries had no record of execution whatsoever. With 3,500 drivers making 400,000 stops a month, delivering about 1.5 million packages, the lack of fleet management was a huge headache.
MercuryGate Fleet Management provided a single platform for all couriers, both internal and external, regardless of what software that courier uses. For the first time, this provided full visibility into standing and ad hoc orders throughout the network.
The customer decided to deploy MercuryGate Fleet Management to their 9,000 retail pharmacies. Not surprising since they saved about $1.5 million in route optimization alone. This came from an estimated 17% reduction in mileage per route and 18% in total spend per route. Additionally, invoicing as a whole was eliminated. Using MercuryGate Fleet Management, all billing is automatically resolved and settled based on voluntary settlement using calculations provided.
Predisposed to High Risks
Conditions Include:
Temperature Control
Many drugs and medical materials must be transported within the right atmospheric conditions. The chemistry of drugs can be affected by either hot or sub-zero temperature extremes. MercuryGate automatically accounts for clients’ cold-chain storage, preservation, and transfer needs.
Delivery Speed
One of the risks in moving pharmaceuticals is that deliveries may be delayed. With our exception management capabilities, the MercuryGate platform enables teams to prioritize resources and proactively prevent errors before they become a crisis.
Global Regulations
Compliance pertaining to pharmaceutical shipments and non-FDA-approved cargo is complex, with regulations varying by country. MercuryGate accounts for the European Union standards and others, including the World Health Organization and International Air Transportation Association. The system enables rapid, real-time updates to compliance rules.
Pharma Security
The MercuryGate transportation management platform includes up-to-date GPS monitoring protocols and extensive security controls to reduce the risk of theft of pharmaceutical cargo at all load transfer points – customized for pharma and life sciences clients.
