Blog #5: Strong together for our customers

By Natascha de Raad
reading time: 5 Minutes

I am dedicating this blog post to one of my favorite topics: Our nationwide transport network GDP network solutions GmbH. Together with nine other partner companies, we launched the nationwide initiative for temperature-controlled transport on July 1, 2020. Our goal was to provide seamless, temperature-controlled logistics in the ambient range between 15 and 25 degrees Celsius throughout Germany. We have now finally achieved this: on November 1, 2022, we were able to close the famous "last mile" with the help of our trusted cooperation partner: Their temperature-controlled Pharmamobiles take over the parcels from the branches of our forwarding agents and pharmaceutical logistics specialists and deliver them to end customers such as doctors, pharmacies or clinics.

The network's new customer portal is also reason enough to dedicate this blog to it. In future, the online tool will document the journey of goods from collection to delivery. This means that every customer will be able to see at a glance where their consignment is at any given time and in real time. This means that we will soon be offering our customers the transparency and security they rightly expect from us.

We have already achieved a lot together

The fact that we were able to set up our new, temperature-controlled transport network into an efficient and profitable organization in such a short time fills all of us here at Med-X-Press with great pride. Once again, an entrepreneurial vision has become reality. As so often in the still young history of the company, we have transformed an imaginary dream scenario with the network idea into a day-to-day entrepreneurial reality with fixed structures and processes. As a result, we have also become a leading player in the industry in this area - and a reliable partner for our customers throughout Germany.

The figures speak for themselves

The 2,620 employees of the 10 partner companies of GDP network solutions GmbH have around 500,000 square meters of storage/handling space and 400,000 pallet spaces. Since the collaboration began, each partner has been able to significantly increase its turnover in the ambient sector. An impressive start, which was certainly also spurred on by the increased demand during the Corona period.

And that's just the beginning

We have laid the structures - including for the expansion of our Value Added Services, which already make up a large part of our service portfolio. Depending on their specialization, our customers have access to numerous services at each of our partners' GDP locations, which they can use to secure decisive competitive advantages. In addition to storage, these include various services such as secondary packaging or serialization at various partners.

A vision becomes reality

I am often asked how the idea for our network actually came about. In fact, we came up with it around two years before we started our business operations: In many conversations with customers, business partners and competitors, we could hear the growing need in the industry for another partner for prompt, reliable and temperature-controlled transportation of pharmaceuticals and healthcare products. As entrepreneurs and opportunity seekers, we immediately seized on this impulse. The time was ripe for a new, innovative market companion.

We knew immediately that this complex task was a historic opportunity. Building a functioning network for temperature-controlled pharmaceutical logistics with like-minded service providers was the ideal challenge for a dynamic, young, strategic and creative company like Med-X-Press. With this network, we would generate new growth on the one hand and give new impetus to the industry on the other.

The idea of "sharing" is particularly groundbreaking

Through the joint use of all partner capacities and the concerted interaction in transport, warehousing and services, we offer our customers the best possible quality of temperature-controlled pharmaceutical logistics along their supply chain throughout Germany - and not just regionally. With this broad and local fine distribution in accordance with certified quality standards, we are now setting new standards in pharmaceutical logistics. However, working for customers throughout Germany as a group, i.e. with combined entrepreneurial strength, requires the same values and quality standards from all partners. This applies to reliability as well as professionalism and customer orientation. This is the case for all GDP network solutions companies, as the corresponding GDP certifications of all partners prove.

I would like to take this opportunity to explicitly mention all those involved once again - and at the same time thank them for their excellent cooperation so far. I would like to take this opportunity to greet the companies Engemann u Co Internationale Spedition (Hilden), Häberle Logistik (Schwäbisch Gmünd), Hartmann Spedition & Logistik (Muggensturm), Hofmann Internationale Spedition (Biebesheim), In-Time Transport (Buchholz), Koch International Pharmalogistik (Lotte), Saxonia Pharmahandel (Crimmitschau), TempTrans (Schiffweiler) and Unitax-Pharmalogistik (Berlin/Nuremberg).

How exactly can you imagine such a network cooperation?

First of all, every partner bears the same level of responsibility for ensuring a consistent cold chain in the zip code areas they manage. This extends from the collection of the goods from the sender to the individual stages of transportation: the goods move between the incoming warehouse, hub, outgoing warehouse and recipient in the temperature-controlled truck. At all logistical interfaces - in the warehouses as well as in the transporters - room scanners guarantee active temperature monitoring in real time. Deviations are immediately detected by an alarm system, reported and rectified via our emergency management system. The goods are also scanned at all interfaces. This means that our clients can check the shipment status of their goods at any time via the customer portal.

Our performance promises are a daily incentive

Our employees are highly motivated and strive to give their best every day. The drivers are on the road from Monday to Friday, and we also offer a Saturday service. Fixed schedules guarantee that we can meet either the "next day guarantee" or "delivery by 12 noon", depending on specifications. This, combined with seamless documentation of the temperature chain, daily quality reports and a proven delivery reliability of 98.5%, gives our customers the highest level of trust and security.

Clear rules enable harmonious cooperation

Above all, the clearly defined regional responsibilities of each GDP partner ensure that everything runs smoothly. Med-X-Press plays a leading role in the network due to its central location in the middle of Germany. Our region stretches from Helmstedt to Hanover and from northern Lower Saxony to the north of Hesse. The transshipment point for all consignments from the network is a central hub in Kassel, which can be reached from our Goslar site in a particularly short time.

Only people make it possible

I would also like to take this opportunity to highlight all the employees in the network, without whom this success would not have been possible. Their commitment, expertise and reliability make the difference in competition. Ongoing further training is therefore of central importance. As part of our quality management, managers receive annual training on the new GDP guidelines and new legal framework conditions in the pharmaceutical industry. At the same time, we have developed a web-based training concept for all employees, which we update on an ongoing basis.

A small outlook at the end

I am certain that GDP networks solutions will develop a great, as yet unforeseeable dynamic. After all, it marks a new, highly professionalized dimension in pharmaceutical logistics. It is in the nature of things that this company - like every organization - will develop new, innovative approaches for innovative services, even more optimized, even more finely tuned processes. By regularly exchanging experiences and ideas with our partners, we will continue to expand this network and fill it with new ideas and life. Because what is already evident in our successful business is also true here: Together we are unbeatable. 

Do you have any questions or would you like advice on our services? We look forward to hearing from you. 
Please feel free to write to us at: vertrieb@med-x-press.de

You can find more information about GDP network solutions here.