UPS Healthcare Grows Its Netherlands Plant

Image Credit: UPS Healthcare

UPS Healthcare has decided to further grow its European hub facility in Roermond, Netherlands by 235,299 square feet, and will be using that additional space for in-demand freezer farms, which serve as a collection of ultra-low cold storage units that preserve biological samples for long periods, a necessity for a bulk of biopharma products.¹

After the new addition, the campus now has over 200 ultra-low temperature freezers, with the capability to store products as cold as -80°C. Further, approximately 3,200 pallets can be utilized for storage at the 2°C to 8°C range.

The worldwide market for biologic therapeutic drugs is anticipated to increase from $373.5 billion in 2024 to $615 billion by 2029,² and given these projections, the newly announced expansion project can help meet the demand for the growing, temperature-controlled market.

With sustainability being a large concern across the industry (the sector’s Scope 3 emissions, those that are emitted by suppliers, are nearly five times higher than Scope 1 and 2 emissions combined),³ the Roermond location has had 2,500 solar panels installed that provide 1.2 gWh of energy; this is equivalent to the annual power consumption of over 450 homes.⁴ The solar panels are able to provide power back to the grid in the process. As a result of these practices, UPS Healthcare is on its way in accomplishing it goal of operating one-fourth of facilities with renewable electricity by 2025, with the object of hitting all facilities by 2035.

“Society’s healthcare needs are changing, and thanks to next generation treatments, practitioners can provide patient care like never before. These complex treatments are time-and-temperature-sensitive and require the highest level of precision end-to-end logistics solutions, from the lab to the patient,” said Anouk Hesen, operations director, UPS Healthcare West Europe. “By expanding this facility, we’re extending our cold chain capabilities to support a rapidly growing and innovating market.”

The hub has direct access to major ports such as Rotterdam, Antwerp, and Amsterdam, and is located near UPS’s European air hub at Cologne Bonn Airport. Via its ground fleet, including temperature-controlled vehicles, Roermond is within 621 miles of 80% of Europe’s addressable healthcare market, meaning that 24-hour delivery to a majority of those locations is feasible.

In other news, UPS Healthcare unveiled UPS Supply Chain Symphony, a branded cloud-based platform that was built to manage and integrate supply chain data from multiple operational systems.⁵ Essentially, it merges data while allowing businesses to make knowledgeable decisions, better plan, and forecast to the best of their ability, which allows for the success evolution of healthcare supply chain management.

"UPS Supply Chain Symphony allows our customers to connect every aspect of their global supply chains to UPS's intelligent logistics network. This is a game-changer that puts powerful new digital tools at their fingertips," commented Kate Gutmann, EVP and president of UPS International, healthcare and supply chain solutions.

References

1. Press release was delivered via email.

2. Biologics Market Size: Report on Industry Size & Market Share Analysis - Growth Trends & Forecasts (2024 - 2029). Mordor Intelligence. https://www.mordorintelligence.com/industry-reports/biologics-market

3. The Carbon Impact of Biotech & Pharma, My Green Lab, 2021

4. Energy consumption private dwellings; type of dwelling and regions. CBS 2024. October 27, 2023. Accessed June 13, 2024. https://www.cbs.nl/en-gb/figures/detail/81528ENG [cbs.nl]

5. UPS Supply Chain Symphony for UPS Healthcare. UPS Healthcare. March 8, 2024. Accessed June 13, 2024. https://www.ups.com/us/en/healthcare/news/press-releases/symphony-for-UPS-Healthcare.page