The emergence of ocean freight as an alternate means of transporting pharma shipments

Pharma firms that spend only about 3 percent of revenue in transporting their drugs around the world are generally known as "best in class". But there aren't many companies who manage to keep a tight lid on their logistics spend. Besides the "best in class" group, other pharma companies, on an average, spend about 6 percent of revenue on their logistics requirements.

According to Beroe's Ocean Freight expert, Syed Abuzer, those pharma firms which don't fall under "best in class" category can potentially end up spending 6 to 9 percent of revenue on logistics in the next three years.

The main challenge confronting the category managers in charge of pharma logistics is: how best to optimize the cost of moving drugs around the world and what are the savings potential?

Pharma firms mostly transport their wares by airplanes and trucks. Even though two-thirds of our planet is covered by sea, only 5% of medicines are moved through ocean freight.

Of course, air freight is the fastest mode of transporting pharma products with minimal damage or product deterioration. However, it is also worth evaluating the option of shipping medicines by sea. This is the crux of Beroe's webinar scheduled for April 9.

As the shift towards ocean freight gains currency, pharma category managers could encounter the following questions:

• What are the lucrative trade lanes for shipping the drugs?
• What category of drugs is suitable to be shipped via container freight?
• How expensive this proposition would be?

Technological development in the reefer ocean freight has enabled pharma firms to shift part of their volumes on specific trade lanes to ocean freight. And during the webinar, Abuzer will be presenting case studies to discuss the possibility of this shift, which can not only bring about cost savings but also impact buyer's carbon footprint.

To watch the webinar on the same topic, please click on the following link: http://beroeinc.co/1VIsgmB