CASE STUDY

Reinventing cold chain logistics for Pfizer

In 2021 the world was in the grip of the COVID-19 pandemic. Pfizer/BioNTech had produced the world’s first vaccine - but it needed to be stored and transported at ultra-low temperatures to remain effective. With such prescriptive storage requirements, real-time temperature monitoring in transit would be paramount.

 

As billions of vaccines were prepared for distribution across the globe, logistics company Controlant were called in to ensure the safe delivery of effective vaccines.

Controlant’s reusable, real-time data loggers integrated with Pfizer’s control tower technologies to help manage temperature proactively. As the global distribution programme for the new vaccine ramped up, Controlant needed to scale production of these devices - fast.

Controlant

 

The Challenge

The vaccine needed to be stored between minus 112F and minus 94F to retain its efficacy, and with only a 5-day shelf-life following transfer from ultracold storage units, there was no room for error in logistics and delivery.

"This is the largest mass vaccination campaign and the most rapid one in human history. The first hurdle standing between these life-saving vaccines and the general public are a myriad of supply chain complexities – from manufacturing to transportation to storage". Andrew Heinrich, Yale School of Public Health.

Controlant’s real-time temperature monitor and data logger offered the solution they needed; however, two key components for the temperature data logger proved costly and complex to manufacture at scale. 

 

Controlant needed a partner to help value engineer their designs and accelerate production to meet global demand:

 

  • Components needed value engineering

  • Manufacturing process was manual

  • Manufacturing costs were excessive

  • Labour shortage was impacting delivery

Controlant scale 1
Controlant scale 2
The Solution

ESCATEC were bought in to value engineer costly and inefficient product designs. The NPI team at ESCATEC applied DfM (Design for Manufacturing), to isolate multiple product enhancements and improve the effectiveness of the data loggers.

Modifications were shared with the client and designs were prepared for the next stage. The entire turnaround time from receiving the initial designs to making recommended changes took less than two weeks.

 

ESCATEC were able to lever decades of expertise to scale up production in record time:

 

  • Setting up new, additional production lines

  • Intensive training programme for the newly recruited staff

  • Preparing multiple new workstations

  • Preparing jigs and fixtures

  • Identifying, implementing and validating process

  • Full testing 

  • Overseeing quality improvements

  • Ensuring regulatory and quality standards are met

 

ESCATEC also invested in cutting-edge machinery to automate the soldering, gluing, and screwing processes for the product to scale up production and accelerate delivery time:

 

  • The Inertec soldering machine reduced cycle time by 1.44 minutes per board, requiring half the number of operators compared to manual soldering.

  • The labor-intensive gluing process is now robotic, reducing total cycle time by 1.2 minutes per board, while needing 22 fewer production operators.

  • The auto screwing capability has also reduced cycle time by 0.85 minutes per board, replacing the previous manual screwing process that required ten operators per shift.

The start of mass production was hugely challenging. Further modifications of the designs were required, some processes had to be revamped while machinery and equipment had to be further calibrated.

Reinventing cold chain logistics for Pfizer
The Results

In the teeth of the pandemic ESCATEC were able to support the rapid scaling of component manufacture to facilitate the largest and fastest global vaccine roll out in human history. 

With recruitment curtailed by lockdowns, ESCATEC office staff were drafted in to help on the assembly lines while automation was expedited.

 

At the height of demand the facility was producing 170,000 units per month for Controlant, supporting the delivery of hundreds of millions of vaccines across the world with a reported 99.99% success rate.

 

  • Rapid scaling of IoT component production in the teeth of the pandemic.

  • Beat global labour shortage through skilful recruitment and automation.

  • Value engineered existing components to save money and production time.

  • Achieved major cost savings while maintaining quality.