#2: Innovative cool-chain facilities
Airports including Singapore (SIN), Hong Kong (HKG), Incheon (ICN), Paris-Charles de Gaulle (CDG), Miami (MIA) and Taiwan (TPE), are working to build infrastructure to facilitate shipments in the growing global market for biopharmaceuticals. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) predicts demand for pharmaceuticals will increase 8 to 9 percent by 2020 and that Asia will account for the largest share of this growth due to the rise of its middle class in developing countries, as well as the increasing proportion of elderly in the region.
In 2017, SIN alone handled over 15,500 tonnes of pharmaceutical cargo. To support the handling of growing biopharmaceutical and perishable volumes at the airport, dnata Singapore has built facilities equipped with cool-chain technology at its cargo center at Singapore International Airport (SIN).
dnata Singapore’s CEIV-certified pharmaceutical cargo terminal in the Changi Airfreight Center at SIN is a prime example of a facility integrated with innovative cool-chain technology. The terminal’s 1,400 square meters of cool-chain facilities are designed to constantly control and monitor the temperature of each shipment in real time. Each room includes an alarm system to trigger alerts that will minimize risk in loss of quality of the goods, should there be a shift in temperature exceeding the set range for a specific good. Different types of cargo such as meat, flowers and pharmaceuticals are stored in individual holding rooms within the cool-chain facility to prevent any cross-contamination.
The physical capabilities of dnata Singapore’s cool-chain storage facilities are supported by a web-based monitoring system, which allows for real-time tracking of any cargo within the facility at any time. When a shipment from the facility is ready for delivery, dnata transports the cargo to a temperature-controlled truck docking area, ensuring the cargo is kept at its required temperature from end-to-end.