UPS Makes Cold-Chain Strides Via New Acquisitions

UPS will be acquiring Frigo-Trans, along with its sister company BPL, healthcare logistics providers based in Germany.¹ With an expected close date of Q1 2025, the deal is expected to bolster UPS’s end-to-end services throughout Europe for UPS Healthcare customers in need of temperature-sensitive products.

Frigo-Trans’ network consists of temperature-controlled warehousing spanning six temperature zones, from cryopreservation (-196°C) to ambient (+15° to +25°C), while also providing a Pan-European cold chain transportation solution and temperature-controlled freight forwarding services.

By that same token, UPS Healthcare has also expanded its reverse logistics and UPS Premier services across Europe.² Markets in the region, such as Austria, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Poland, Switzerland, and Sweden, will now have bolstered UPS Pickup Point locations. The UPS Premier Platinum service is also available.

This expansion helps tackle the rise in demand for precision healthcare logistics, an intangible that is imperative in today’s marketplace.

“In five years, if you are a logistics or transportation company that does not have precision logistics capabilities, you're not in healthcare,” explained Dan Gagnon UPS Healthcare’s VP of global strategy & acquisition integration, in a recent interview with Pharma Commerce.³“At the end of the day, to move control room temperature or ambient medications and devices, it's pretty easy stuff. It's moving product from point A to point B. There are some complications around information for regulatory requirements and some of those things. but if you're going to claim to be in healthcare, you really have to be good at two things.

“One, you have to be very good at understanding regulation and enabling audit defensibility for your customers. Two, when it comes to this precision logistics, you have to be very good at keeping things stored and delivered on temperature and on time. The equipment's getting better, the SOPs are getting better, but it's also a cultural thing. You need an organization to say, ‘there's no exception, this has to be delivered today. This has to be delivered before 8 am.’ There has to be this culture of service, that you're going to have happen if you stay in healthcare five years from now."

References

1. UPS Bolsters Healthcare Logistics Capabilities with Cold-Chain Acquisitions. UPS. September 10, 2024. Accessed September 10, 2024. https://about.ups.com/us/en/newsroom/press-releases/our-strategy/ups-bolsters-healthcare-logistics-capabilities-with-cold-chain-a.html

2. UPS Healthcare Expands Reverse Logistics and UPS Premier Services Across Europe. UPS healthcare. September 10, 2024. Accessed September 10, 2024. https://www.ups.com/us/en/healthcare/news/press-releases/ups-healthcare-european-service-expansion.page

3. Saraceno N. The Importance of Precision Logistics. Pharmaceutical Commerce. August 5, 2024. Accessed September 10, 2024. https://www.pharmaceuticalcommerce.com/view/importance-precision-logistics