An E-learning and E-journalism platform as well as a security project are on the agenda of Pharma.Aero for the next months. At a press conference in Brussels the umbrella organisation looked both back and forward.
“Pharma.Aero is about delivering content and we are driven by the concerns of the life sciences industry,” said chairman Nathan De Valck, adding that the organisation had been quite busy since
its set-up in 2016. Secretary-general Frank Van Gelder reminded of the commitment to the IATA CEIV Pharma accreditation, which is a basis for the membership.
CEIV Pharma validation
The first Pharma.Aero project that was completed brought the shippers together and asked them to evaluate the CEIV pharma check-list and audit methodology. This has led to a list of
recommendations, which has been shared with IATA in order to increase the maturity of the certification program,” said Mr De Valck.
Digi 2.0
Jaisey Yip, Changi Groups’ Associate General Manager Cargo & Logistics Development & Air Hub Innovation Air Hub Development, reported on the completion of the first phase of the Digi
holistic data sharing platform. “There are many players in the airfreight supply chain, each using their own set of data they are not always willing to share,” she said. “Ultimately and
ideally all these data should meet. It would enable the location of pharma shipments at the airport.”
The project resulted in a technical report about digitisation of the pharma supply chain, intended to track all the data of a pharma shipment from producer to destination. The document outlines
the technical requirements and expectations of all the stakeholders, she explained.
It will be used as a roadmap for a follow-up project that Pharma.Aero launched over the last few months. Over the next months a proof of concept will be set up for sharing real time data
for the live tracking of pharma shipments. The digital platform is to provide information on temperature, location and quality. The project will be tested by the Brussels, Mumbai,
Singapore and Hong Kong Airports.
Airside transport benchmark study
Dimitrios ‘Jimmy’ Nares, Section Chief Aviation Marketing of the Miami-Dade Aviation Department elaborated on the airside transport benchmark study Pharma.aero has launched. “This has been going
on for about a year and is being finalised. Shortly we will present a white paper. We had input from a lot of members as well as from the cargo communities of our member airports.”
According to Mr Nares this is about best practices for moving pharma on tarmacs.
E-learning for CEIV dissemination
Also on the to-do list is the creation of an e-learning platform towards CEIV dissemination, so that the information on the pharma requirements can trickle down to the staff of the companies
involved in pharma shipping.
Mr Van Gelder also mentioned an ‘e- journalism’ platform on which students and individuals can publish objective paper and which would also be fed with Pharma.Aero’s own white papers.
Security is also on the agenda, in a project based on feedback from pharma shippers. The notion ‘security’ is to be seen in its broadest sense, so also including the fight against counterfeiting.
New members
Pharma.aero was also happy to introduce some new members. Montevideo Airport‘s membership status has been upgraded from full to strategic member. “This means that they will be able to represent
Pharma.Aero in their region,” said Mr Van Gelder.
From the handlers’ side WFS has joined the organisation as a full member. On the associated membership list are specialised companies such as vacuum isolation provider va-Q-tec, Validaide, which
offers supplier qualification and lane risk assessments and cool chain monitoring provider Innolabel,
“I was surprised of the size of this market,” said Ms Chris Van Sebroeck, Innolabel’s General Manager and it was her motivation to join Pharma.Aero. “Airfreight is in need of innovation and
Pharma.Aero has taken action to take the drive,” added Validaide’s Co-founder and MD Eelco de Jong.
Frans Vriend, Regional Sales Manager va-Q-tec concluded by saying that Pharma.Aero really listens to what its members have to say. “We see it as an organisation that delivers and tries to improve
the level of pharma shipping by air.”
Marcel Schoeters in Brussels