Summary

The successful implementation of a Heating Ventilation Air Conditioning (HVAC) System at Aquilant sites.

The Challenge

During extreme ambient weather conditions, temperatures in our Fonthill, Maryland and Basingstoke warehouses could exceed the required product storage condition parameters.

Risk of product non-conformity resulting in products not being fit for re-sale leading to financial losses / write-offs of existing stocks and stop in supply affecting service & sale commitments to clients.

Risk to patient safety leading to potential regulatory involvement, investigation, penalties, reputational harm and or loss of license to distribute.

Need to meet Pharma GDP requirements for Wholesale Distribution Authorisation.

The Approach

1. To identify temperature control and monitoring solutions to reduce the risks.
2. Consulted with engineering experts to determine the most cost effective means of heating/ cooling the warehouse.
3. Went out to tender, utilising group procurement expertise and selected from three robust tender submissions made.
4. Turnkey cost, service, expertise, relationships, maintenance and timeframe all considered.
5. Supplementary solutions also deployed: skylights, mobile chillers, stock location temperature zones introduced.
6. Centralised NotionPro Temperature Control system and temperature mapping studies completed and all processes updated.

The Results

• System installed between May and Sept 2016 to project requirements.
• Competitive advantage gained / attractive to manufacturers to partner with a distributor able to provide temperature monitoring and control to meet new storage Medical Device Regulations.
• Actual cost was under budget by 25% (below the approved CAPEX estimate).
• System challenged in hot spell in July 2017, where external temperatures exceeded 30C for 7+ hours over 1 week. Warehouse did not exceed 23C.
• Mobile chillers now deployed to various sites to enable back-up cooling (BCP).