CASE 02
·
Air
·
Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare
Weekly 2–8 °C pharmaceutical air freight from Mumbai to Dubai
A new tender required weekly refrigerated shipments to a Dubai distributor. We built a lane with passive packaging, data loggers and a planned handover at each step.
SHIPMENT MANIFEST
Client
Indian generic-medicines manufacturer
Cargo
Finished medicines, 2–8 °C
Mode
Air
Industry
Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare
Handled by
Mumbai
Completed
Nov 10, 2025
OUTCOME
Weekly shipments
12
Temperature excursions
0
Typical door to door
~36 h
01
The challenge
The manufacturer had won a supply tender with a distributor in Dubai and needed weekly shipments of refrigerated medicines to start within six weeks. The product had to stay between 2 and 8 °C from the factory to the distributor’s cold store, with records to prove it.
02
Constraints
Product stable only between 2 and 8 °C
Summer apron temperatures in Mumbai and Dubai above 40 °C
Import permits required for each consignment
Distributor cold store open only on weekdays
03
Operational plan
We qualified a passive packaging system rated for the route’s transit time plus a buffer, and booked direct flights so there were no transfers. Every shipment carried two temperature data loggers.
Handover times were agreed with the handling agents in both airports, and our Dubai customs team pre-lodged import documents so cargo could clear on arrival and reach the cold store the same day.
04
Key decisions
Direct flights only, even when an indirect routing was cheaper
Passive packaging instead of active containers, to suit the shipment size
Flights chosen so arrival fell on distributor working days
Import documents lodged before departure
05
Outcome
The first twelve weekly shipments arrived within the 2–8 °C range, according to the data-logger records shared with the distributor after each delivery. Door-to-door time was typically around 36 hours.
“
The logger reports arrive before we ask for them, which is exactly what our quality team needs.
Head of Quality, pharmaceutical distributor (demo)
SERVICES USED
How we moved it
CONTEXT
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