DHL opens two life sciences centres in US
DHL has strengthened its capabilities in the North American life science and healthcare market with two new processing facilities in Miami and Atlanta. The company said its new Life Sciences & Healthcare Competence Centers boast specialist personnel and technology including temperature controlled rooms and DHL’s coldchain monitoring system, SmartSensor.
Including cold storage for deep frozen shipments, the two sites feature enhanced capabilities, increased capacity and greater flexibility to manage specialist life science and healthcare shipments, the company said.
The Competence Centres will act as “launching points” for the distribution of pharmaceutical supplies, biotech and medical devices throughout the Americas, and DHL has applied for the Atlanta centre to gain Free Trade Zone status to export items outside of the US.
DHL now has 28 Life Sciences & Healthcare Competence Centres around the world including the two new facilities.
“Our facilities and specialized services give us greater flexibility to control customers’ freight when incidents occur by having 24×7 visibility, and an infrastructure in place to recover freight and store it, maintaining its integrity,” said Marco Quiros, head of Business Development Life Sciences & Healthcare, DHL Americas.
Atlanta in particular is home to a considerable medical research sector, with the city home of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the national public health institute for infectious diseases.
DHL said its new facilities were developed in response to customer demand for specialised equipment for handling of materials, the industry’s unique standard operations procedures, and “ever changing” industry requirements.
“As a result of a series of Life Sciences training sessions that took place in 2011, our employees in Miami and Atlanta, as well as throughout the Americas, are highly equipped to handle all medical products,” said Quiros. “They have gained insight into Good Distribution Practices (GDP) through sessions comprised of modules focusing on procedures and standards that ensure operational excellence.”
