Cold chain: a vital system for vaccine distribution.

Vaccinating billions of people globally is no simple undertaking, but with a suite of industry 4.0 solutions at the forefront of global efforts, it can be done. Vaccines rely on an intricate logistics system called cold chain for safe storage and transportation. The only way to achieve equitable and timely vaccine distribution is for all those involved to plug in and integrate their systems into an interconnected pipeline.

In a truly ‘smart’ logistics systems, all aspects of vaccine distribution would be integrated. Research and product development, sourcing supplies and raw materials, production and manufacturing and shipment.

As you can probably tell, data gathering is a large part of this process. By utilizing IoT, blockchain, cloud management and AI, manufacturers can monitor individual packages being transported; the journey it takes and whether it arrives to the destination on time.

The cargo transported within the cold chain must be maintained under a temperature of 70 degrees Celsius from end-to-end. Every vaccine package can be tracked and monitored separately. If a single container is shaken beyond a certain threshold, dropped, or is exposed to higher temperatures over time, that container will be automatically marked for re-shipment.

Tracking individual packages allows transporters and recipients to replace and manage specific orders, ensuring every order meets fundamental requirements.

Insights drawn amid the COVID-19 pandemic will be invaluable for future progress. Companies are faced with the overwhelming task of vaccinating billions of people around the world (twice). Now is a critical time for world health leaders to see how distribution strategies map out amid the current crisis.