Arvato Healthcare is expanding its activities in Italy and has opened a new distribution centre in Calcinate, near Bergamo. Since beginning of August the local warehouse has 3,500m² of additional space for dispatching pharmaceutical products.
“Our portfolio in Italy comprises services ranging from warehousing, pick and pack services, transport and returns management to ‘Bollini handling’ – which means pharmaceutical product packaging being scanned and the information passed on to the Italian authorities, in accordance with the health ministry’s requirements,” explains Maria Rizzuto, Project Manager at Arvato Healthcare Italy. The customer care team is currently still based at one of Arvato’s central EU warehouses in Harsewinkel, Germany. “We are planning to set up a local customer service team so that in future we can make use of the entire order-to-cash logistics chain, and the order acceptance system, in Italy too. We aim to explore the possibilities over the next six months,” says Key Account Manager Lukas Hannig, who is responsible for an existing customer in Calcinate.
The new site also features a warehouse for products stored at between two and eight degrees Celsius. There are 50 pallet spaces available for this. This means that the service portfolio also covers the actively and passively refrigerated transport of such products. “For express deliveries to hard-to-reach areas in Italy, we also use insulated boxes,” says Martin Zöckler, Site Manager at Arvato Healthcare Italy. The warehouse also provides 3,000 pallet spaces for the storage of ambient products at temperatures between 15 and 25 degrees Celsius. If required, the space used by Healthcare can be extended by 5,000m².
The warehouse and all of Arvato Healthcare’s activities in Italy will meet the Good Distribution Practice (GDP) requirements. “The quality management system in Italy is completely integrated into our European quality organisation,” confirms Davide Valenti, the pharmacist responsible for Arvato’s quality assurance in Italy. Of course, this new distribution centre is also integrated into Arvato’s SAP-based IT infrastructure. “This allows us to guarantee manufacturers uniform processes, data security, and data transparency beyond national borders, which in turn reduces interfaces,” explains Carsten Thiemt, Director of Quality Assurance at Arvato Healthcare in Europe. ISO 13485 and 9001 certification is expected to follow in 2017.
The modern distribution centre in Calcinate encompasses 13,500m² and was put into operation in 2006 by Arvato SCM Solutions. Until now it was exclusively used by the business unit Consumer.
Products for e-commerce and loyalty operations. The Healthcare business unit will use the new site to strengthen its European network and aim for further growth via integrated IT systems and a quality management system. Just recently, at the end of July, the healthcare specialists have started operating a new warehouse in Gennep, Netherlands. Following the inauguration of the Italian and Dutch sites, the opening of a further international site in Alcalá, Spain will take place this autumn.
