UKH

Bit of a long-shot here, but somewhat suspect there will be some expertise on UKC.

I've got a second round interview in a few days, that I've just been told will focus on, among other things, questions on "cold-chain management".  

The post will likely involve handling of pharma materials in tropical climates, so that's probably where the question is coming from.  But I think it was obvious in the first-round interview I have zero experience of this and hadn't even heard of the term until about 10 minutes ago.  I'm suspecting either the interview will be a disaster, or they are well aware I know nothing about the subject and looking for quick learning ability.

So, aside from an obvious trip to Wikipedia and a few pages of Google searches, does anyone have any advice on how I could possibly approach answering a question like this?  Anyone with experiences/disasters when dealing with cold-chain management?  Ideas about pitfalls or possibly issues that might not appear on a cursory web-cramming session on the subject?

Any help would be much appreciated!

Without much knowledge (a few passing sentences in uni in a lecture in which I had a window seat some years ago), I think proof of cold chain integrity was paramount. Back then, this was done with lables (think the stuff that used to be on poultry, with tree color codes indicating the max temp that was reached), I recon now there should be heaps of new stuff with smart-sensors, RFID labels and such.  (although, for tropical climates in developing countries low tech might be better suited) 

Anyway, best of luck for your interview!

Great, thanks for that.  This is much more information than I knew already, so its all helpful.

Hi David

I spent 7 years working in clinical trials for Pharma/CROs shipping stuff in and out of every conceivable country. The usual questions work well when building up an understanding the requirements of the logistics required (Who, what, where, when, why and how).  I would also ask straight off what the rate limiting step is likely to be (e.g. the No Objection Certificate in India, Russian single import/export site restriction or Chinese Genetic Office and cells containing DNA/RNA).

If you are potentially stepping into a role which will require you to manage this process then the employer should have a well developed set of standard operating procedures which cover how to engage.

Send me a private message if there are any other particular questions about this. Some bumf to consider below.

• What is it you are trying to ship: Drugs, reagents, medical devices/equipment, biological specimens or documents all have different handling requirements specific to the items needs.
• Where are you shipping from and to: Not just between airports but from shipping site to delivery site. Some areas only reachable on foot or donkey, so buying a chilly bin, some gel packs and taking this in your luggage when you visit can solve the problem.
• Regulatory/Legal stuff: Getting stuff in and out of countries in different economic areas can be full of pitfalls. You need local broker knowledge to circumnavigate any peculiarities. (e.g. Russia only grants permits to import/export through a single point and given the size of Russia you need to think carefully about this given the type of materials being shipped and the delivery sites)
• Country level distribution and region level distribution: Don't expect something that works well in New Delhi to work in Hyderabad. Check with you local broker contacts on who is reliable. Ask courier companies to provide you their last years metrics on shipments during the vendor selection process.
• Vendor selection: Who has the best coverage for different area's, who will give you the best deal for the project, who is most reliable in the area. 
• Materials availability: Dry-ice, who can make it and ship it out locally or are you going to have to import it then distribute. Do you need to send sterile equipment? Are the preservatives in some of the containers toxic or carcinogenic?
• Quality Assurance/Risk assessments: How will check/ensure that what is sent turns up in the same or acceptable condition (tamper seals, temperature loggers, laboratory tests). Can you still use it if its a bit damaged? (How will you know if you can use it?)
• Key Performance Indicators (KPI's): Discuss with you project team during setup what things will you record, monitor and report as an indication that shipping is going well, on time and to budget?
• Timeline Modelling: If you need to get stuff from a site, to a lab to be analysed and reported for key decisions then work out timelines, including a bit of contingency for customs clearance delays (are your shipments still likely to be frozen when they are delivered based on the quantity of dry ice used to ship with?). I used to write the stopping points in columns in excel, then shipping sites down the rows and input duration's across to get a feel of the challenge.
• Cost Modelling: Shipping sites love to use a courier every single time rather than batch a couple of shipments together. What can you afford in terms of items storage life span vs cost vs when you need the item by? Who will give you the best coverage at the best price, you cant always use premium rate couriers (World Courier, PDP, Marken etc) sometimes you can use general couriers (TNT, FedEx and Royal Mail).
• Extreme Weather: Cold/Hot/Humid weather can destroy cells, fry your dry ice supplies, leak into specimen bags. What are you contingency plans (hold off from shipping, re-route, or accept the risk and ship and hope). Weird stuff like assassinations and erupting volcanoes can cause major shipping delays when customs clearance close or blockade import/export.
• How will your sites know all this information??: Training, training and retrain them. If you KPIs start flagging that a particular country or shipping site are spending too much of your money with too many shipments or the quality of the items shipped is poor due to bad packaging then its time to roll out retraining. Work with local couriers and people to help spot problems before they leave the site and hit the customs clearance.

Good Luck!

That's more information than I could have hoped for. Thanks!

Will PM you in a few hours.