DHL Global Forwarding, the air and ocean freight specialist of Deutsche Post DHL Group, has recertified its air freight station in Philadelphia according to the CEIV Pharma Standard of the International Air Transport Association (IATA). The central association for aviation attests to the highest service and quality standards through uniform processes and a compliant network.

“A resilient and highly efficient transport network, tailored to the specific needs of the Life Sciences and Health Care industry, has never been more crucial than today. Therefore, we are delighted to have received not only the re-certification for IATA CEIV Pharma on a corporate level, but also for our state of the art air freight station in Philadelphia at the Philadelphia International Airport,” said David Goldberg, CEO, DHL Global Forwarding US.

The re-certification comes on the heels of a number of services and products put in place to add additional capabilities and technology to the Americas network for the life sciences and healthcare sector. They include:
Nina Heinz, Global Head of Network & Quality, Temperature Management Solutions at DHL Global Forwarding added: “For years, the number of regulations and requirements has been steadily increased in the life sciences and healthcare industry in general, especially regarding product transportation and storage. Although we at DHL have been a leader in ideas and innovation in the industry for a long time, we recognize that there is always room to improve. With our renewed IATA CEIV Pharma Certification, we are both clearly demonstrating our continued emphasis on constantly enhancing our service quality and showcasing that we are a reliable partner for transporting vital and temperature-sensitive products.”

  1. A $1.6 million investment in a brand-new Indianapolis facility
  2. A $650,000 investment in our San Juan, Puerto Rico, facility to add additional capabilities and technology to our Americas network for the life sciences and healthcare sector.
  3. A new MMEX which offers routing options from China to destination in the U.S. and Latin America with reduced transit time and cost savings.
  4. LCL Expedited, an upgraded service, which offers a faster “LCL Service” by using expedited trucking as well as faster sailings on certain trade lanes to provide faster transit times for customers.
  5. Dedicated flight operation with 3 x weekly roundtrips from Chicago to Shanghai to Chicago and 6 x weekly roundtrips to and from EU to China.
  6. 27+ dedicated charters (globally) to help customers specifically focused on LSH shipments
  7. Additional, dedicated capacity from Europe to LATAM via the DHL Global Forwarding Miami hub.
  8. A Chicago / Shanghai flight (3 times a week) where DHL Global Forwarding added a stopover in Incheon so that customers in both markets could be serviced. The extended the flight operation until April 2021. 

DHL has been actively involved with IATA’s continuous efforts to adequately answer to the regulatory demands of the pharmaceutical industry. A standardized approach in air freight increases productivity, accuracy, and reliability while remaining compliant in all required areas. DHL began certifying its global stations according to the IATA CEIV Pharma Certification in 2016 to raise the bar in pharmaceutical logistics. Following independent audits by third parties and training courses for employees on site, the DHL GxP (good practice) in Philadelphia successfully renewed the quality label. Thereby DHL Global Forwarding enhances transportation and storage quality levels of pharmaceutical goods and the DHL station exceeds usual quality standards.

As the leader in the Life Sciences & Healthcare Industry, DHL provides its employees in all levels and functions around the world with vital tools to understand and meet customers' and regulatory expectations. By providing a specialized training program, IATA regulation standards were implemented at scale in key GxP (good practice) facilities worldwide. The CIF Certified Life Sciences Specialist (CLSS) program provides a comprehensive curriculum of mandatory trainings, functional courses, and material to unlock the knowledge of this specialized industry. Like at all temperature-controlled locations of DHL, every designated employee in Philadephia handling and involved in Life Sciences & Healthcare shipments have successfully completed the training and are certified Life Science Specialists. This ensures that sensitive shipments are handled with utmost care and in compliance with the highest industry standards.

At each location, IATA examines and compares the station’s correspondence to its Temperature Control Regulations (TCR) as well as GDP (Good Distribution Practices) guidelines from the European Union, World Health Organization and other regulatory bodies.

With its international network, DHL offers a wide-ranging product portfolio at its Air GxP locations that covers all client needs for time and temperature sensitive airfreight shipments and provides seamless temperature visibility along the supply chain. Through its excellent service, DHL has successfully established itself as the market leader for logistics solutions in the life sciences and healthcare industry. Special services also include the door-to-door courier solution “Life Sciences graded Specialty Courier”, the express service “Medical Express” with a fixed delivery time, and “DHL Clinical Trial Logistics”, a logistics solution designed for clinical studies such as the transportation of trial medication, ancillaries, and lab kits.