Pharmaceutical logistics specialist Marken is adding to its suite of shipment tracking tools by launching an integration with logistics technology firm Roambee, the company said Tuesday.
Research Triangle Park, N.C.-based Marken, which is a unit of shipping and logistics giant UPS Inc., says that tagging its packages with Romabee's wireless, asset-tracking blocks will let Marken boost its ability to provide end-to-end visibility for shipments of valuable clinical products.
Roambee makes a networked tracking device called the "Bee," a hardware block about the size of two smartphones that supports a variety of sensors and sends data to cloud-based storage platforms over cell phone networks as it travels with assets. The Roambee devices will now be affixed to Marken's packaging fleet and will allow those shipments to be more visible at certain staging locations throughout the clinical supply chain, Marken said.
The devices will provide more than just location data, allowing Marken to continuously scan, identify, locate, and re-deploy its assets, as well as to monitor the location, condition, and security of products travelling with them, the firm said. The solution also meets industry qualification standards for data integrity and temperature assurance and will be extended to clients for whom Marken manages their owned, reusable packaging fleet. The validated GPS and temperature monitor validated devices are sized so that they can be utilized for even the smallest of packages and offer a price-competitive solution for any kind, size, and value of shipment, according to Marken.
"We have seen an incredible growth in the number of sensitive shipments that demand real time tracking and we understand that clients expect tracking technology for shipments of any value in today's industry," Marken CEO Wes Wheeler said in a release. "As the value of clinical products continues to climb, our clients are asking Marken to manage and track their shipments as a standard value-added service. The Roambee solution, when added to our already well established Sentry technology solution, will provide an increased level of supply chain security which our clients have come to expect from us."
Adding the tracking tags is Marken's latest investment in its pharmaceutical and medical product shipping network, following its move in February to expand its Philadelphia package facility. The firm also added a service for returning the industry's expensive, specialty packaging units to their shipping origins so clients can clean and reuse them.
