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Behind the scenes at the UPS Louisville Technology and Logistics Center

by Gus Iversen, Editor in Chief | December 09, 2014
From the December 2014 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine


“On average, our facilities carry about 75 licenses to enable us to transport devices and narcotics. When you get into the direct to patient operations you’re probably adding another 30-40 on top of that,” says McKenna, who acknowledges the UPS regulatory team in Delaware for keeping the company updated on ever-changing licensing requirements.

As a third party logistics (3PL) provider, UPS is in a unique position. Many of the rules governing health care are being revised and UPS participates on government boards that actively work to shape the legislation that will affect their business. “It isn’t just about the retailer and the wholesaler, with (3PL) you neither own the product nor control where it’s sold to,” says McKenna. “We simply facilitate the movement; we needed to find our own niche market in that, and help get the idea of a 3PL defined in that new legislation.”

One hot button aspect of those logistics is the serialization of drug packaging, a form of monitoring that the government and the transport industry are increasingly leaning toward. McKenna says that’s up to the customer. “Ideally it should be done at the point of manufacture. But for inventory already in flow, could I go in and relabel some of that inventory? Absolutely.”

The main things they monitor at the facility, says McKenna, are part number, lot, and expiration date. It it’s a medical device they also keep track of serial numbers. “In the future everything will have some type of serial number on it.”

Although UPS prides itself on being a multi-client facility, they also run the warehouse managements systems (WMS) unique to individual customers if it’s what the customer wants. But Dirk van Peteghem, UPS marketing vice president of healthcare logistics, says that kind of customization can limit the benefits of being a multi-client facility in terms of sharing assets and leveraging manpower.

The cold chain
As one makes their way through these health care warehouses they become accustomed to the frequent honking of horns. That’s how the drivers of the material handling equipment (MHE) vehicles announce themselves when emerging from an aisle or making a turn.

“Certain people are trained and certified to run different MHEs and nobody veers off the walkways to cross under a rack,” says McKenna, as he takes us past the inventory for a large manufacturer of flu vaccines. McKenna explains that this is the end of the flu season for them. During the year there are about five people on that particular account but during the three month peak period it jumps to about 80 or 90.

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