UPS Healthcare Logistics
By land, sea, air or rail, medical products criss-cross the globe
From 'A' as in Austria to 'Z' as in Zanzibar the letters 'UPS' (United Parcel Service) are known for express transportation and logistics services. Since the late '90s the UPS section responsible for logistics services has delivered supply chain solutions for healthcare customers, including pharmaceutical, biotech, medical devices and equipment companies - an important growth sector for this global company.
William ‘Bill’ Hook, Vice President of Global Strategy and Healthcare Logistics at UPS, is responsible for developing and executing UPS’s services for the healthcare industry worldwide, for which his team provides tailor-made solutions. These combine express package and heavyweight freight transportation services along with 3rd party logistics. ‘Healthcare customers can rely on a network of fully compliant, temperature and humidity controlled UPS storage facilities and vehicles,’ the firm assures. ‘Servicing the healthcare market means dealing with a complex regulatory environment. ‘This goes for storing and transporting pharmaceutical products as well as medical devices,’ Bill Hook explains. ‘Our focus lies on products that typically have a registration or license requirement. But with our extensive, reliable and specialised transportation network we can deliver to most parts of the world within 24 to 48 hours.’
Philips Healthcare, for example, is a long-standing UPS client, for which the company moves MRI and scanning equipment to and from Europe, Asia and North America. Once the equipment has been delivered to a hospital or doctor’s surgery, an after-sales support programme ensures the high-value equipment remains operational. It is critical that new components, or replacement parts, can be installed without delay. ‘There is increasing manufacturers’ interest to have stronger, more direct relationships with medical facilities,’ he notes. ‘Traditionally healthcare products are transported to hospitals by a distributor. However, the discussion is under way about sourcing channels and how to gain direct access to expertise, resources and market reach. We also see a trend in combining shipping and distribution of medical devices and pharmaceutical products. UPS can offer solutions for all those needs.’ Solving security issues is also part of his expertise; he can help companies to manage counterfeiting and temperature sensitive transportation of (restricted) pharmaceuticals.
To date, the European and North American markets have represented 70% of all healthcare consumption worldwide. However, demand is growing rapidly in almost all emerging markets. Last year, growth in demand averaged 25% in China, Korea, India, Brazil and Mexico. Governments and healthcare service providers of those emerging economies have learned from more mature markets very effective ways to control costs, he says. ‘From what we are seeing in our work, manufacturers and medical service providers are seeking ways of taking costs out of the system. I think it’s a healthcare evolution that there’s more interest in finding ways to do things differently and streamline the supply chain, in order to make a difference to cost.’
19.11.2008
