UPS opens expanded healthcare facility in Ontario
UPS has opened a new state-of-the-art 200,000 square foot healthcare distribution facility at its Burlington Campus in Ontario, Canada. The company said the new addition provides healthcare companies and pharmaceutical manufacturers with a total 600,000 sq ft (55,700 sq m) of temperature and humidity controlled environments at the site.
One of the largest cold-chain chambers in Canada, the facility’s expansion comes along side similar expansion projects at Louisville in Kentucky, Mira Loma in California, Atlanta and Reno, Nevada.
UPS said it now operates more than 6.4m sq ft, nearly 600,000 square metres, of healthcare space, including 11 facilities in Canada.
Globalisation, increasing red tape within the healthcare industry and a greater emphasis on standards is driving the growing need for specialised healthcare distribution.
Kevin McConnell, Vice-President, Canada Distribution, UPS Supply Chain Solutions, said: “UPS has made healthcare a strategic priority, and in Canada this investment in both the new healthcare space as well as the large cold chain chamber represents our commitment to driving innovation in healthcare logistics.”
Solutions
UPS said its facilities meet all applicable government accreditations, licenses and geographic-specific regulatory requirements, including those of the United States’ Food and Drug Administration and Drug Enforcement Agency, along with Health Canada.
Drug company AMGEN Canada is one client that will make use of the new Burlington facility in the service of its patients.
Ralph Mueller, Director of Supply Chain, AMGEN Canada, said: “Working with a partner like UPS affords us unique and customised shipping and warehousing solutions. These solutions support our stringent safety standards and our overall strategy to maintain a consistent supply of safe and effective biological medicines to Canadians living with serious illnesses.”
“Critical and life-saving medicines, like those in the Amgen portfolio, often require very tightly controlled storage and distribution specifications,” said McConnell. “The cold-chain coolers have been designed with the strict requirements to maintain the integrity of the product before they are administered to patients.”
