In a joint research project, Validaide and Technical University Eindhoven will develop innovative solutions for Lane Risk Assessments in pharmaceutical logistics.
The project Data Analytics for Lane Risk Assessments will focus on data-driven methods for risk management and transport optimization. As a project partner, Panalpina will contribute to this project with its industry knowledge and data systems. This two-year research project will be co-funded by TKI Dinalog, the Dutch Institute for Advanced Logistics.
With this research we aim to address the challenges faced by pharmaceutical manufacturers to comply with the updated EU Good Distribution Practices (GDP) Guidelines. These regulations came into effect in 2013 and put a significant focus on a risk-based approach to quality management. Pharmaceutical manufacturers are expected to make route risk assessments for all their transport routes, a responsibility that is often delegated to freight forwarders for air freight shipments.
The initial results of the project were recently presented at the PDA Cold Chain Conference in Prague. A data-driven Lane Risk Assessment algorithm for air freight was published that builds on the capabilities of Logistics Providers stored in the Validaide platform. In the algorithm these capabilities are automatically enriched with climate data and country-specific data from the World Bank to assess transportation risk across six risk categories.
In 2018 we will extend our research by adding additional evidence-based data sources to our lane risk assessments, such as historical incidents and CAPA reports. We will also investigate the opportunities for machine learning based on sensor data collected from actual shipments. Furthermore, we will analyze packaging and product features in order to mitigate transport risks.
The goal of these research activities will be to achieve multiple strategic benefits, including major efficiency gains in regulatory compliance and optimization of transport decisions. Ultimately, we expect that advanced data analytics solutions can help to reduce the qualification time for new transport routes and therefore shorten the time to market for new pharmaceutical products.
We recently published a White Paper about our initial risk assessment algorithm for air freight. If you are interested to receive this White Paper or have other questions about our research project, please contact us at eelco.dejong@validaide.com
