A considerable part of materials, let alone food or medicines, change their characteristics in these conditions. As far as medicines are concerned, these conditions have an impact not only on their characteristics, but also on their effects. Frankly speaking, medicines which are stored or transported in an inadequate manner, in inadequate temperatures or humidity, may pose mortal danger to people. "Nowadays, application of the HACCP procedures (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points — editor's note) is not a requirement but a necessity," says Marcin Michalski, Mobile Project Manager, Consafe Logistics, a supplier of shipment control and monitoring systems. "Although some statements sound banal, it is worth repeating them. Things like medicines must be transported in adequate conditions and there should be no exceptions to this rule," the director of one of the biggest medicine wholesale companies accompanies him.
It is adequate temperature and humidity of the room that should be paid special attention to. "Our ControlTransport solution allows for constant monitoring of temperature inside vehicles that carry medicines and containers with medicines. Each deviation from the standard is communicated with a special alert on the terminal or at the shipper's", says Michalski. The solution is integrated with temperature reading modules. A message is displayed immediately upon reading incorrect parameters.
Cars, e.g. cars of pharmaceutical wholesale businesses, for transporting medicines use special polystyrene foam containers marked with a bar code. Information which and how many medicines are stored in a given container may be hidden in that code. You just have to scan the order to record the entire delivery in the system.
"Polystyrene foam containers are usually owned by the shipping company and are lent to pharmacies. ControlTransport is designed to control and monitor how many given containers are in a given pharmacy," Michalski comments. And he adds that "the driver knows how many of them he has and how many he can take. Thanks to simple receipt features, the system quickly enters this information to the central system".
Pharmacists can monitor their deliveries and estimate receipt time. "It is important, as far as information given to clients, especially elderly ones who come to fetch their medicines themselves, is concerned", the owner of a pharmacy in the Warsaw's Wilanów says.
Let us imagine a situation, where a hospital or a pharmacy places an urgent order for a medicine which they go short of or do not have at all. It sometimes happens that a medicine is needed immediately. When it turns out that the driver is unable to reach their destination on time, the doctors may think about a temporary alternative treatment. The shipping company may quickly set a new, faster route. "We need to remember that seconds, not minutes determine whether a treatment will be successful," a representative of a big British pharmaceutical company says. It is difficult to calculate delivery time in the city. Therefore, even the mere information that a medicine is being transported is invaluable.
ControlTransport is a sophisticated application designed not only for monitoring shipment status but for helping to find the shortest route or control transport conditions. And when a medicine reaches the pharmacy, it is enough to place a signature, which will be a Proof of Delivery, on the terminal. The shopping company has a proof that the medicines have been delivered to the right place. Wholesale businesses can also control their drivers. The systems integrate with Canbus, which makes it possible to control fuel consumption or traveled kilometers. "It is a very good solution for fleet managers," a fleet manager in a big shipping company sums up.