UPS Healthcare adds 21,860 square metres to European hub in Roermond, increasing its cold chain capacity. This hub is a crucial link in a strong and reliable supply chain for a wide range of complex biopharmaceuticals. Anouk Hesen of UPS Healthcare: "The need is growing for biologics that require complex, temperature-controlled logistics." Hesen is keynote speaker at the Logistica Next and ICT&Logistics trade shows, which take place from 5 to 7 November.
The expansion of the Roermond facility allows UPS to increase its cold chain capacity and capabilities. The Roermond hub now has more than 200 ultra-low temperature (ULT) freezers capable of storing temperature-sensitive products down to -80 °C. In addition, the facility adds about 3,200 pallet positions to its existing portfolio for storing temperature-sensitive products at 2°C to 8°C.
Globally, UPS Healthcare now has 1.6 million square metres of cGMP- and GDP-compliant storage space, of which 930,000 square metres is dedicated to cold chain. Since 2020, it has more than doubled its global network of healthcare compliant storage space.
Responding to a growing market
The facility expansion meets the demand for advanced and temperature-controlled logistics in the healthcare sector. The global biologics market is expected to grow from €342.9 billion in 2024 to €564.6 billion by 2029. The Dutch pharma sector is estimated to grow by 6.17 per cent between 2024 and 2028, representing a market volume of EUR 7.03 billion by 2028.
"Society's healthcare needs are changing. There is more need for biological medicines and these require complex temperature-controlled logistics with sustainable end-to-end solutions. This is how we get patient-critical products where they need to be, from lab to patient, on time and at the right temperature," says Anouk Hesen, operations director UPS Healthcare West Europe. "By expanding the facility in Roermond, we are able to offer a greater range of our cold chain logistics to a fast-growing and innovative market."
Strategic location
The Roermond facility is close to UPS' European air hub at Cologne-Bonn airport and has direct access to major ports such as Rotterdam, Amsterdam and Antwerp. In addition, UPS Healthcare has a fleet of temperature-controlled vehicles. Moreover, Roermond is within a 1,000-kilometre radius of 80 per cent of the European healthcare market. The combination of a central strategic location and a specialised fleet ensures that delivery within 24 hours is possible in most of Europe.
Renewable energy
The new UPS Healthcare facility has 2,500 installed solar panels that provide more than 1.2 gigawatt hours of energy. This is equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of more than 450 households in the Netherlands. The solar panels enable UPS to feed power back to the grid. This contributes to its local sustainability efforts around renewable energy and to UPS's goal of powering one in four facilities with renewable energy by 2025. By 2035, all facilities should run on renewable energy.
UPS Healthcare's sustainability efforts also benefit its customers. EU regulations require large and listed companies to report regularly on their environmental impact through a sustainability report. This includes emissions from suppliers. So lower emissions at UPS Healthcare's facilities mean lower emissions for customers' chains.
Logistica Next and ICT&Logistics
On Wednesday 6 November, Anouk Hesen will speak from 13.45 to 14.15 at the Logistica Next and ICT&Logistics trade fairs. She will elaborate on the importance of data and transparency in building adaptable and resilient supply chains for companies in the healthcare sector. In doing so, she will talk more about the experiences with UPS Premier, the service specifically designed for critical shipments in healthcare.
