DHL Global Forwarding, the air and ocean freight specialist within Deutsche Post DHL expands its service offerings for the life sciences & healthcare industry in India by adding Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad to the company’s worldwide Thermonet network of Certified Life Sciences Stations.

In recent years, temperature controlled products for the pharmaceutical industry have gained significantly in importance. The driving force is biotechnology products, which generally must be kept within a strict temperature range during transportation. The worldwide sales volume of this product category tripled from USD 56 billion 2004 to an estimated USD 167 billion in 2013.1 Further growth is expected in the future.

DHL Thermonet provides seamless temperature visibility along the supply chain, 24/7 proactive monitoring and intervention based on pre-determined touch points and DHL’s RFID SmartSensor technology, that is also GDP certified. Temperature data and logistics events can be accessed via the proprietary LifeTrack IT platform that also houses all product-specific SOPs, facilitating early intervention and simplifying document control.

The custodian facility within the airports in these cities collectively offer 502 square meters of +2° to +8° Celsius and 2,886 square meters of +15° to +25° Celsius cold storage space to serve DHL’s global customer base in the life sciences & healthcare sector with temperature-controlled airfreight shipment needs.

“Our customers in the life sciences and healthcare sector are looking for better ways to manage the risk of product damage and loss from temperature deviations in their supply chain. DHL Thermonet tackles these requirements and offers Indian consignors and consignees access to a reliable end-to-end cold chain facilities”, says Samar Nath, CEO, DHL Global Forwarding, India.

DHL is constantly expanding its global Thermonet network of Certified Life Sciences Stations and plans to reach 65 by end of 2014 and 80 by end of 2015. The facilities in Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad are audited according to globally defined Good Distribution Practices (GDP) to ensure conformity across the network. They support the storage of pharmaceuticals and vaccines and offer customers temperature monitoring, dry ice replenishing along with active and non-active container handling to ensure product quality at all times. In Hyderabad and Mumbai, there are 5 loading bays each, while Bengaluru is equipped with 2 bays. In addition, these sites offer temporary transit storage within bonded customs facilities. In the upcoming months, DHL plans to expand similar capabilities at Ahmedabad and Delhi.