MVD Free Airport is proud to have collaborated with DHL in the support of the ABB FIA Formula E Championship race which took place in Punta del Este, Uruguay on March 17th, 2018. With a lean, tailored operation aimed at an efficient handling and dispatching of all cargo related to the event, MVD Free Airport was able to handle over 200 tons in a three day window, adjusting its procedures to the specific Formula E requirements.
“The Formula E is a significant event around the globe, the future of competitive racing. Having this event in Uruguay is not only a great satisfaction but also a great responsibility, not only does the location have to be fit for Formula E from a quality, touristic and financial perspective, but all supporting actors need to be up to par in providing a global quality overall service”, mentioned Max Lema, Head of Client Advisory at MVD Free Airport.
“We look forward to continuously supporting Formula E activities in the region, and to the growth and popularization of the competition moving forward, along with future projects with DHL”, he concluded.
MVD Free Airport is a business unit of Corporación America, the largest airport operator in the world with a network of over 50 airports across 3 continents.
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With a relatively small internal market, Uruguay has set its stall out to become a gateway to the whole of South America, writes Neil Madden.
Sandwiched between Brazil and Argentina, Uruguay has introduced an attractive tax, legal and administrative framework to transform the country into a competitive point of entry for global shippers.
The results have been impressive. Montevideo (MVD) Free Airport (pictured) saw its pharma cargo in transit to other markets in the region like Brazil and Argentina grow 462 per cent last year compared with 2016 as a result of initiatives developed since mid-2015.
“We inaugurated phase 1 of our pharma hub with new cold chain facilities, our information systems were improved for better traceability, and we developed a new commercial approach to global players,” MVD Free Airport senior manager, global accounts, Hans Guiscardo tells Air Cargo Week.
Global pharma and high-tech businesses have already located distribution centres near the airport, displaying trust in the early stages of its development, Guiscardo continues.
“We are seeing strong interest in pharma, which is the vertical that we’ve approached more proactively,” he says. “Better traceability, temperature controls, state of the art infrastructure, GDP certification and easy access to large neighbouring markets are the main drivers behind the interest, given that these are widespread challenges faced by much of the industry.”
Global pharma players are currently distributing to larger markets across South America via MVD, including cargo that is not typically airfreight.
“Our multimodal capabilities help to adapt the solution to any distribution need, no matter whether the cargo arrives or leaves by sea, land or air,” adds Guiscardo.
“In addition, some pharma companies are starting to centralise purchase orders at MVD, allowing for smarter stock management and just-in-time replenishment based on having safety stocks for the region at the airport. The model definitely fits pharma supply chain management from a logistics as well as a quality assurance perspective.”
MVD is part of Argentinian company Corporacion America, which operates more than 50 airports and cargo terminals in Latin America and Europe. This network opens opportunities to explore tailored solutions for customers’ supply chains.
Currently, the MVD team is working on the creation of a freighter route to the Brazilian capital Brasilia. “We are always looking for synergies in order to find solutions to specific needs,” Guiscardo says. “This is something that clients value.”
Brazil, despite an economic slowdown in the past few years, is still a powerhouse in terms of potential growth. And the new government in Argentina has started reopening the country’s economy to the world, becoming an attractive market in itself. Together both markets serve over 200 million people.
But smaller markets like Colombia, Chile, Peru, Paraguay and Bolivia are also supplied from a distribution centre in Uruguay benefitting not just logistically, but also in terms of taxes and transfer prices management.
Having completed phase 1 of its pharma hub project, MVD expects this to operate at near full capacity during the peak season.
“We hope to start working on phase 2 very soon, and in parallel, we are working on some projects with strategic clients that have demanding requirements for pharmaceutical warehouses adapted for primary and secondary packaging activities,” adds Guiscardo.
“We have a developable area of more than 80,000 square metres inside the airport premises, just three minutes from the runway, so the potential is there.”
The biggest challenge for the air cargo industry is to work on reliability and traceability, Guiscardo says, so that forwarders and shippers can be sure that their cargo is always under control, being handled on certified and validated infrastructure, under adequate operational standards and according to their expected service level agreements, and, of course, cost-effectively.
While Latin America has considerably raised its levels of professionalism there is still work to do in terms of providing homogeneity, comments Guiscardo.
There are different regulations, cultures, human capital issues, costs, infrastructure, and information systems, all of which generate a highly complex scenario that is difficult to grasp for companies with distribution needs in the region.
He says it is important for global players to source and identify key partners that can help with region-specific know-how and integrated solutions.
“Handling variability in a ‘last mile environment’ is much easier with a local player with stakes across the region than doing so for a number of long hauls managed from a different time zone,” he comments.
“At MVD Free Airport we have addressed these complexities and set up specific plans to turn these challenges into new business opportunities.”
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MVD Free Airport is a business unit of Corporación America, the largest airport operator in the world with a network of over 50 airports across 3 continents.
For more information, please contact us at info@dromoshosting.com/lacc
MVD Free Airport recently participated in IATA’s World Cargo Symposium taking place in Dallas, Texas, as a speaker on “Market Outlook and Challenges” in Latin America from a pharmaceutical distribution perspective. Bruno Guella, MVD Free Airport’s Managing Director mentioned “A lot is happening in South America in terms of opportunities for pharma. Governments are placing significant focus in the universalization of healthcare in large markets such as Brazil, Argentina and Colombia, and this is impacting positively on the overall healthcare spend currently at rates considerably higher than GDP growth rates”.
“Shippers are currently looking at this possibilities, anxious to better serve existing markets with growing demand as well as new ones, yet the challenges for efficient and quality oriented pharma distribution are many”, he added. “Markets vary in size, regulatory aspects, infrastructure, skilled labor, bureaucratic and administrative processes, etc. leading to inefficient distribution. Security aspects are also an issue, with circa 30% of drugs being counterfeit. Taking measures to prevent these occurrences is key to capitalize on the commercial opportunities and one of the main challenges in SCM”.
“At MVD Free Airport we are working continuously to provide a safe, reliable and traceable entry point to large regional markets such as Brazil and Argentina. So far it’s been a learning experience that has helped position Uruguay as a very competitive gateway for South American distribution. We are definitely very excited about all that is to come”, he concluded.
MVD Free Airport is a business unit of Corporación America, the largest airport operator in the world with a network of over 50 airports across 3 continents.
For more information, please contact us at info@dromoshosting.com/lacc
MVD Free Airport recently attended the BME Global Supply Chain Congress which took place in February in Frankfurt, Germany as part of its organizational strategy to stay up to speed with global trends and tendencies in pharmaceutical supply chain, while contributing insights from the perspective of emerging market distribution.
“Being continuously up to speed with the present and the future of global pharmaceutical supply chain is key to ensure that we are helping pharma companies the right way in their distribution efforts to Brazil, Argentina and the rest of south America.”, mentioned Maximiliano Lema, Head of Client Advisory for MVD Free Airport. “By continuously speaking to colleagues regarding challenges, obstacles, best practices and lessons learnt, we are able to incorporate and share significant know-how in terms of better understanding our clients, their mindset, as well as the direction that the industry as a whole is taking”.
“It is very important, however, taking into account the globalization of the supply chain and the commercial and growth opportunities found primarily in emerging markets, to help global players understand the regional and local implications of supply chain distribution from an idiosyncratic, infrastructural and quality process perspective”, added Maximiliano. “South America in particular is a very heterogeneous region, with different implications from market to market in terms of customs, regulatory affairs, infrastructure, IT, etc.” He concluded that “Players that do not understand these implications and the lessons learnt are bound to transit the same learning experience hitting the same dead-ends and obstacles, and here is where the synergy in continuously sharing information is found”.
MVD Free Airport will be present at Logipharma in upcoming April in Montreux, and looks forward to continue helping shape a quality and efficient approach to pharma distribution in South America.
MVD Free Airport is a business unit of Corporación America, the largest airport operator in the world with a network of over 50 airports across 3 continents.
For more information, please contact us at info@dromoshosting.com/lacc
va-Q-tec is a leading provider of highly efficient tech products and solutions in the field of thermal insulation and cold chain logistics. The company, with headquarters in Germany, manufactures passive thermal packaging solutions, which offer constant temperature conditions up to 200 hours without using external energy sources.
Within its rental services business, va-Q-tec has built a global partner network fulfilling highly demanding thermal protection standards in temperature sensitive supply chains.
In Uruguay the company installed an innovative regional distribution center to serve the growing demand in the region.
For more information on va-Q-tec visit https://www.va-q-tec.com
The first quarter of 2018 has seen MVD Free Airport incorporate several new distribution set-ups in the region to better serve the pharmaceutical market in South America. In January, a global specialty pharma company has commenced their direct-to-patient distribution to South America centralizing their distribution via MVD Free Airport.
“It is definitely a very challenging model, ensuring high-value, highly critical medication is sent as quickly as possible to the right person, while ensuring all aspects related to cold-chain storage, handling and packaging are up to the most demanding quality standards. We understand the positive impact we are having on many lives, and are proud to be a part of something like that” mentioned Carla Sarti, Head of Client Advisory at MVD Free Airport.
Simultaneously, MVD Free Airport has begun with the storage and distribution of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients and shipping to Brazil for production purposes. This has also presented the need for a detailed and tailored SOPs given the nature of the goods, the majority danger, and the specific handling and storage requirements.
Last but not least, MVD Free Airport has hit a significant milestone in its Brazil distribution having sent its truck number 400 via the Santana do Livramento border with zero temperature deviations, significantly reducing clearance times and providing a traceable and reliable entry point to Brazil.
“We are receiving very manifest interest from many large global players attempting to tackle similar issues. We look forward to making all these exciting projects a reality”, added Sarti.
New York, February 1st 2018
Corporación América Airports S.A. is pleased to inform that it has gone public and is trading in the New York Sock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker CAAP.
Corporación América Airport, an Airport platform operating 52 airports in seven countries (Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Peru, Ecuador, Armenia and Italy) including MVD Free Airport, is the first Argentinean company to go public in 2018. In its IPO, Corporación América Airports offered 28.571.429 ordinary stocks alongside Oppenheimer, Citi, Goldman Sachs and Bank of America as offering Banks and Santander Bank as co-manager.
Corporación America Airports is the 19th Argentinean company that goes public in the New York Stock Exchange.
Montevideo, January 15th 2018
MVD Free Airport, the only 3PL in South America that combines a tax-exemption regime, multimodal transport, primary and secondary packaging capabilities and location inside an airport free zone is undergoing the final stage of the IATA CEIV pharma certification process.
“This certification is an integral part of our value proposition”, said Bruno Guella, MVD Free Airport’s Managing Director. “Understanding the implications in the distribution of pharmaceutical products in the region, our entire organizational strategy is based first and foremost, on the development of a company culture that thinks “patient first”, and secondly, on taking the necessary steps in training, infrastructure development and information systems that allow for a total quality approach to our day-to day.”
MVD Free Airport has recently inaugurated the first module in its temperature controlled warehousing master plan and is currently working on the executive project of for phase 2, as well as revamped its information systems to automate all data capturing and processing stages for real-time process mapping.
“The IATA CEIV Pharma Certification has made the organization align itself behind a very challenging objective, and has truly been a learning experience. We are looking forward to concluding this process shortly and becoming the first Free Airport in Latin America with this certification”, Bruno Guella concluded.
MVD Free Airport is a business unit of Corporación America, the largest airport operator in the world with a network of over 50 airports across 3 continents.
For more information, please contact us at info@dromoshosting.com/lacc
Stuttgart, November 9th 2017
The global pharmaceutical Company with headquarters based in London has recently implemented a strategic Logistics operation in Uruguay deserving an award for Distinction in Global Temperature Control and an honorable mention for Best Network Design Strategy at the prestigious Logipharma Awards 2017 which took place in Stuttgart, Germany.
This nomination cements Astrazeneca’s positioning as one of the leading pharmaceutical companies worldwide, with focus on the research, development manufacturing and commercialization of high-value prescription medicine for the betterment of the health and quality of life of its patients around the globe.
We spoke in detail with AstraZeneca to learn more about their operations in Uruguay:
Uruguay Smart Services: ¿What businesses do you develop from Uruguay?
AstraZeneca: The Company developed a Logistics operation for the distribution of imported finished goods to Brazil. The products transit via Uruguay after sea and air long hauls, are consolidated and shipped via truck to our Cotía plant, in the state of SP-Brazil.
Uruguay Smart Services: ¿How many people are involved in the operations?
AstraZeneca: AZ counts with strategic Support of its local branch and the process involves a number of customs agents, transport agents, forwarders, and the cargo terminal in Uruguay’s free Airport.
Uruguay Smart Services: ¿Why have you been nominated for this award?
AstraZeneca: This Project delivered very important results to AstraZeneca’s operations. The travel times are very stable, damages were reduced and the temperature excursions were reduced dramatically. For these reasons we were invited to submit the project in two categories: Distinction in Global Temperature Control and Best Distribution Network Strategy.
The Project was approved in the 1st round by the juries and on November 9th, in Stuttgart, Germany, the final presentation will be made in presence of the juries. On that night, throughout the ceremony, the winners will be officially revealed.
Uruguay Smart Services: ¿Why Uruguay, what advantages does it offer?
AstraZeneca: Uruguay offers a very favorable legislation for this type of operation, a political and legal stability as well as qualified workforce, with an open mentality to successfully implement projects such as these.
Uruguay Smart Services: ¿How did Uruguay come under AstraZeneca’s consideration?
AstraZeneca: The operational benefits (such as the free port laws or the free trade zone laws) are very well known in the different industrial sectors, especially in Brazil. The key aspect for AZ was to get acquainted with the country and its infrastructure, understanding the application of the laws and counting with deeply rooted support from our local branch.
Uruguay Smart Services: Moving forward ¿do you have any plans for expansion or development of other business lines?
AstraZeneca: In the near future we will be adding volumes for finished products imported to Uruguay and as well finished and bulk products sent to Argentina. The consolidation of this freight alongside containers with Brazil as final destination will allow AstraZeneca to implement long hauls by sea to destinations that, individually, do not count with volumes that justify this type of modality. In 2018 sending bulk freight to Brazil is also under consideration.
For Uruguay it is an honor to host this type of high-value Project that represent the highest international standards in terms of quality and efficiency.
Uruguay XXI is the government agency which works to internationalize the Uruguayan economy, promoting the country as a strategic location for productive investment and export growth.
Uruguay Smart Services is the sector brand and website developed by Uruguay XXI through the Global Services Program financed by the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB).