A Tale of Two Cities: Managing Pharmaceutical Logistics in London and Mumbai

In an era of rapid urbanization and increasing healthcare demands, the world’s largest emerging metropolitan areas face a critical challenge: optimizing pharmaceutical logistics to meet patients’ needs efficiently. As global populations age and the demand for pharmaceutical products increase, many metro areas area grappling with the complex logistics required to deliver to those in need.

 

London

The tale starts in metropolitan London. London experienced significant population increase post-COVID-19 with people moving back into the city. The population growth in metro areas of London averaged between 1.2 percent to 1.4 percent in recent years and had an estimated population of over ten million in 2023.

In central London, there are numerous infrastructural challenges that prevent quick and efficient delivery of healthcare products to the city’s medical facilities. The logistical challenges faced by inner city hospitals include extreme road congestion, space constraints and long queues for delivery vehicles, leading to delivery delays and poor air quality.

Beyond transportation, warehousing storage is also a challenge in a city where the ability to build or expand facilities is extremely limited. Despite these obvious challenges, there shouldn’t be a compromise on the availability of pharmaceutical products and consumables required by doctors and patients.

At CEVA Logistics, we are thinking outside the box to reimagine pharma logistics. We are reimagining deliveries through the use of a strategically located hub, just 20 miles outside central London.

The hub provides inbound consolidation services for multiple customers, including the NHS Trust. Supplier products are offloaded and cross-docked at the hub, and then delivered to the hospitals as per agreed schedules—working around the clock 24/7. Operating logistics through the hub eliminated more than 90% of supplier delivery vehicles arriving at the hospitals’ delivery bays, reducing congestion and complications onsite.

The hub’s strategic location is a critical aspect of the solution. Accessibility without traffic congestion for daily in-bound deliveries, proximity to the medical facilities and seamless last mile delivery to patients are the three key pillars of a highly optimized pharma logistics solution in densely populated areas like central London.

In collaboration with the NHS Trust and the London Port, deliveries from the hub travel to the hospitals via the Dartford River on a Hydro-treated Vegetable Oil-fuelled boat. Finally, the important cargo is transferred with electric cargo bicycles to hospitals.

“Soaring population in world’s largest cities, including London will inevitably lead to a higher consumption of pharmaceutical products, both in hospitals and in patients’ homes. Plans to develop new hospitals, expand existing hospital facilities, and/or construct a new logistics infrastructure for healthcare facilities located in central metropolitan is complicated due to a lack of available space. One of the best ways forward are offsite logistics hubs that are strategically located, with almost surgical precision, creating an uninterrupted supply of pharmaceutical products to hospitals, home deliveries to patients and clear access for suppliers.” – Eric ten Kate, Global Head of Healthcare, CEVA Logistics

Mumbai

Across the world in Mumbai, India, pharmaceutical logistics are also under pressure. Mumbai is India’s most densely populated city—the unique challenge is that there is an ever-increasing demand for Indian-manufactured pharmaceuticals both locally and internationally. As such, Mumbai has become a main hub for the exportation of pharmaceuticals to the rest of the world thanks to its geographic location.

More than 50 percent of India’s manufactured pharmaceutical products are exported from Mumbai, with a majority destined for the United States and Europe. India is emerging as one of the global manufacturing hubs for many multinational pharmaceutical companies. Due to India’s rising population, local demand for domestically produced pharmaceutical products in Mumbai is also on the rise.

One primary challenge is the limited space at the Mumbai airport, causing a bottleneck for moving these critical products. The airport infrastructure struggles to keep up with the growing demand of pharmaceutical products, including a lack in sufficient cold storage space.

Additionally, recent geo-political events shifted large amounts of sea freight to airfreight, causing even more congestion at the airport. Luckily, a new airport, Navi Mumbai Airport, is swiftly under construction and is scheduled to be operational by the middle of next year. Although this applies to passenger flights primarily, the cargo facilities usually also follow the suit, especially since Mumbai is the main hub in India for exports of pharma products.

“At CEVA in India, we manage pharma air shipments to all parts of the world, even to Latin America. One of the best airports for exporting pharma products is in Bangalore, India’s largest southern city. The airport in Bangalore offers excellent cold-chain facilities, so when circumstances permit, pharma products are transported via road from Mumbai to Bangalore or Hyderabad airports. I’m optimistic that the plan for the new airport in Mumbai will effectively cater to the needs of booming pharma exports from the city to the rest of the world.” – Divya James, Head of Air & Ocean, India, CEVA Logistics

The tales of London and Mumbai illustrate the diverse challenges and innovative solutions in pharmaceutical logistics across different urban landscapes. As cities continue to grow and evolve, the need for creative, sustainable and efficient pharmaceutical supply chains becomes increasingly crucial.

By leveraging strategic hubs, embracing multimodal transportation and investing in advanced infrastructure, metropolitan areas can overcome logistical hurdles and ensure the timely delivery of these important products.