Supply Chain Moves: Week of December 7th, 2020

Labelmaster Supply Chain Moves

 

SUPPLY CHAIN MOVES
Brought to you by: Labelmaster Software

Week of December 7th, 2020

Linking technology news with Dangerous Goods compliance

As supply chain challenges continue to mount, companies are looking to technology solutions to help them navigate these uncertain times – whether it’s responding to rapid e-commerce growth or preparing to distribute a COVID-19 vaccine around the world.

To help companies keep a pulse on technology trends impacting business and the movement of dangerous goods throughout the supply chain, Labelmaster has launched “Supply Chain Moves,” a bi-weekly report linking the latest technology news to dangerous goods compliance.

Let’s examine the recent supply chain technology and industry news.


TECHNOLOGY

  • The Evolution of Warehouse Logistics: Many businesses are looking to reduce their overhead expenses while improving order accuracy and expediting the delivery timeline. While these goals may seem antithetical to one another, technology may be the solution.

3PL TECH

  • Improving 3PL Management: Digital Transformation: The future of the third-party transportation management market is now centered on creating digital experiences, workflow automation, and optimizing customer and carrier focused service performance.

Technology & Dangerous Goods Compliance

There has been much anticipation over the promise of a COVID-19 vaccine. While there’s no clear timeline for when one will be available, there has already been much discussion around the potential logistic challenges of distributing a vaccine around the world.

Bringg CEO Guy Bloch notes in a recent SupplyChainBrain article, “Orchestrating a global distribution of one of the most in-demand items in history is not a feat that can be accomplished manually. It will require the support of technology in order to pull off seamlessly…Apart from the extensiveness and global reach that the vaccine distribution will need to have, it will also require substantial amounts of planning, sensitivity, visibility and efficiency.”

There are elements at play in distributing a vaccine, such as keeping it stored at the correct temperature, improving delivery speed, provide real-time visibility and much more. The logistics challenges are made even more difficult when you add in the hazmat shipping requirements.

In a recent blog post, Labelmaster Senior Manager Jay Johnson notes that unlike COVID-19 test samples from patients, vaccines are not classified as dangerous goods. However, shipping vaccines will likely require some DG labeling, documentation and training.

Dry ice (which will be used to keep the vaccine cold) is a fully regulated Class 9 hazmat (UN 1845) when shipped by air, and certain vaccines may actually need to be shipped with cryogenic liquid nitrogen, which is a Class 2 non-flammable gas (UN 1977). It’s also important to note that every unit containing dry ice and/or vaccine will have a lithium battery-powered datalogger in it, for either temperature control, theft or anti-terrorism. So additional shipping requirements may be needed.

Safely transporting hundreds of millions of vaccine doses will be a massive and phenomenally complex cold chain logistics challenge. And the global logistics industry has been taking steps to distribute the vaccine quickly and safely once it’s ready.

To learn more about dangerous goods software or how to establish a safer, more compliant supply chain, visit https://www.labelmaster.com.

Have questions about dangerous goods transport? Call the Labelmaster Regulatory Hotline at 1.800.621.5808.


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