Photo: DB Schenker
DB Schenker implements latest within mobile temperature surveillance. Provides a positive outcome for the whole value chain, according to the company.
- The temperature solution has increased the quality throughout the organisation and far beyond. The pharmaceutical industry has high standards and security measurements, and everyone understands the importance of complying these standards, Lisa Lindholm, CoDi Specialist in DB Schenker says.
The transportation company DB Schenker has for many years been responsible for transporting medicine between depots and stores. As many as 300 temperature units are on the road daily, containing lifesaving medicine. The solution is developed by GSGroup and are used to monitor temperatures on vitally important medicine that are being transported. The system integrates with DB Schenker’s own logistics system. The cooperation that started in 2012 has been important, and has truly developed GSGroup as an organisation, product manager Sturle Furland in GSGroup says.
- Schenker is a professional company that sets high demands to the suppliers. There are essential guidelines for how the system should be managed and further developed. The transportation process is often carried out by a subcontractor, and we have therefore developed a system that enables Schenker to have full access no matter what.
The solution consists of small and portable units that follow the commodity throughout the transportation chain. The system must comply with strict protocols, be flexible, track and deliver temperature measurements. If the temperature at any point should exceed a given threshold that has been set for the room or compartment containing medicine, an alarm goes off and a notification is sent to both DB Schenker and any subcontractor involved, Furland says.
(Photo: From the left Klas Wassberg in GSGroup, Thomas Weingart and Lisa Lindholm at DB Schenker and consultant Martin Laidla at Schenker IT)
A complete product
Thomas Weingart, CoDi responsible for the driver’s process at DB Schenker says that it is positive that GSGroup now can offer both the hardware and software. Martin Laidla, consultant for DB Schenker IT, agrees.
- The fact that GSGroup provides both software and hardware both simplifies and secures the cooperation. It is easier to implement a request or get an answer when the expertise is in the same company. It makes it easier to work with development and updates, Laidla states.
DB Schenker is pleased with the evaluation.
- There has been little feedback, which is the best feedback one could get. Our customers are busy and expect things to work as they should. If they had not done so, we would have been very much aware of it. It is supposed to be simple, functional and comply with the standards put forward by our industry, Lindholm says.
She says the biggest challenge has been internally and states that the cooperation process has forced them to discuss and rethink several issues.
- This is a flexible yet complex system, that has taken us a while to fully comprehend. I will describe it as a fun journey, where we have discussed everything down to the meaning and functionality of temperature, Lindholm says.
Furland says temperature can be your best friend and your worst enemy.
- The system is first and foremost about providing security. When medication is exposed to the wrong temperatures, they must be destroyed. This obviously has economic consequences. Medication is expensive, and there are essential values that can go to waste. Getting and maintaining the right temperature is also important to secure a good economy, Furland says.
