Vodafone IoT aids Controlant in reducing pharma supply chain waste, emissions
Vodafone Business IoT and Controlant announced they are working together to make the pharmaceutical supply chain more sustainable. They aim to reduce the waste of perishable medicines and help distributors avoid the unnecessary carbon emissions redelivery creates.
Safeguarding the delivery of temperature-sensitive medicines remains a persistent challenge for the global pharmaceutical supply chain. Distributors that are unable to monitor the environmental status of their shipments in real-time risk losing vast quantities of perishable medicines and vaccines – worth around €28 billion ($30 billion) each year.
In a new report, independent consultancy the Carbon Trust found that Vodafone Business IoT and Controlant’s solution have avoided 53 kilogrammes of carbon dioxide emissions (CO2e) per box of medicines delivered when compared to industry averages. This is around 15 percent of the industry average emissions produced across the lifecycle of medicines. The Carbon Trust says this equates to a total of 16,700 tonnes of CO2e avoided for Controlant’s deliveries made in 2022.
Controlant, founded in 2007, provides pharma and logistics companies with environmental monitoring technology that provides data on the temperature, location, and light exposure of perishable medicines during transit.
This real-time monitoring relies on Controlant’s Saga devices – reusable data loggers with Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity. These alert companies if products go out of a set temperature range and enable urgent preventative action. There are more than 200,000 Saga devices in circulation at any time, all being monitored through a centralised platform.
Saga devices must remain connected for the entirety of a transit process. For international deliveries, they need reliable connectivity regardless of the mode of transport or continent in which they are travelling. Each device contains a Vodafone Business IoT SIM, which provides them with reliable and secure connectivity through 570 different networks in more than 180 countries worldwide.
Controlant co-founder and co-CEO, Gísli Herjólfsson said: “Vodafone is at the forefront when it comes to IoT connectivity. Without them, we wouldn’t be able to have our devices speak to us and let us know if something goes wrong.
“Having Vodafone as a central partner means that everything just flows seamlessly, no matter where you come from or where you’re going.”
Since implementing IoT technology, Controlant’s pharmaceutical supply chain customers have reported successful delivery rates of more than 99 percent. Before, they could expect a typical loss rate of perishable medicines of around 35 percent.
In the last financial year, Vodafone Business helped customers avoid around 32.8 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions through our digital technology solutions. Vodafone Business IoT services such as fleet management, smart metering, connected solar panels and remote patient monitoring have helped our customers save around 78 million tonnes of emissions since 2020.
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