A new era of shipping

A new era of shipping

The growth of biological-based medicine combined with the drive towards personalised medicine means that the existing passive solutions for monitoring just don’t meet the need. 

With passive solutions, customers are unable to say with real confidence on arrival if the shipment is in good condition, only being notified something went wrong when the box is opened and monitor alarms are visible. 

This, combined with the lack of location visibility in complex supply chains with many movements, means that the risk of loss and damage increases dramatically. 

Looking to change that and bridge the gap between outdated practices and modern demand, Arca BioLogistics has partnered with Cen Global, a move aimed at transforming the logistics process for healthcare and pharmaceutical products. 

“We were driven by a general need for the life science logistics industry to modernise. We had identified a gap from multiple conversations with customers of all sizes across the space,” Paul Grindall, Commercial Director of Arca BioLogistics, said.

“Other couriers have portals, but these are normally designed in a way that meets the operational needs of the courier and not the client. Our own approach with the portal was to take a customer-first view of user experience. 

 “With a large chunk of the UK market based around SMEs, without dedicated logistics professionals, we felt it was important to create something that anyone without logistics knowledge could use, without the frustrations and headaches associated with many existing logistics booking platforms.”

Updated approach

Traditionally, the logistics industry as a whole operates in a very manual way. The current status quo across multiple couriers remains an email-heavy booking process and in some cases word forms submitted by email. 

“All communication happens in this way, opening up space for both user and logistics provider error. In the modern age of e-commerce and online ordering we felt that existing companies in the space aren’t offering customers the capabilities of modern-day technology,” Paul outlined. 

 “The traditional way of working relies on back and forth send and response for basic administrative tasks adding more time and frustration to the process which from a customer’s perspective can already feel uneasy, especially when handing over such high value material to a courier for safe keeping.”

By moving away from emails and more towards the portal booking process, lead times to book shipments in the Arca Live portal take, on average, three minutes, down from an average of two hours. 

Enhanced experience

Current tracking across the industry is based around milestones, which in essence leave huge gaps of time between touch points. This poses risk from a life science point of view and adds to the anxiety a lot of organisations face when they ship material internationally. 

“Our solution offers real time location and temperature visibility as a standard to all customers and their receivers,” Paul highlighted. 

“Both parties at the shipping and receiving ends of a movement can follow the shipment in real time which is accurate to a three-metre radius, whilst also seeing the current and full temperature of the shipment from the moment we collect to the moment it is delivered.

 “Working this way removes the need for passive loggers which can take days to be downloaded for their reports resulting in lengthy down times between delivery and use of the product. 

 “Our approach with live monitoring is simple. If customers ordering online can get a more comprehensive tracking experience for a £20 T-shirt than for life-changing and valuable material something is very wrong.”

Integrated approach

By working with a live monitoring system, there is less risk of deviation and waste in the industry, adding to both quality and sustainability targets. Fundamentally live monitoring allows handlers to take a proactive approach to shipping, resolving potential concerns and early signs of deviation risk before they happen. 

With vast supply chain networks products can be handled by multiple people in transit at any given time. Live monitoring ensures that no matter the solution the product is visible to all involved, thus significantly reducing the risk of loss and disruption.

“We are constantly evolving our offering but that’s being driven by a customer-first ethos. Integrating product catalogues, customs classification advisory tools, and many more new features coming in January 2025 means that when the industry catches up we are a step ahead,” Paul elaborated.

“This, however, couldn’t be achieved without technical partners like Cen Global and we are excited to carry on the journey of innovation as we collectively achieve our goal of life science logistics, modernised.”

Picture of Anastasiya Simsek

Anastasiya Simsek

Anastasiya Simsek started her journalism career in 2016 at Ukrainian TV-Channels: 24 Channel and 1+1 Media. Having worked across a number of different sectors, including news, medicine and lifestyle, she joined the Air Cargo Week editorial team in 2024. To share your news and exclusive insights, contact Anastasiya.Simsek@AirCargoWeek.com

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