The thermolability of many pharmaceutical products places special demands on the supply chain. The task of quality management is to ensure that these requirements are met at all times and in all places. Martine Francois and Carsten Thiemt provide insights into quality management at arvato services healthcare.

Mr. Thiemt, you have only been in the company for a short time. What was your first impression of quality consciousness at arvato services healthcare?

Carsten Thiemt: Employees positively live by the GDP guidelines. Effective training concepts appreciably contribute to this. Of course I am pleased that my colleagues are conscious of the great responsibility involved in dealing with vitally important medicines. Since I was previously employed in the pharmaceutical industry, I know how important it is to comply with quality standards. Drug companies have a great responsibility toward patients and it's good to know that there are service providers who share this responsibility without reservation.

What else distinguishes quality management in the company?

Martine François: We have a large number of very different products. Acting on behalf of our customers, we distribute pharmaceutical preparations, medical products and even hazardous materials. For each product area we have specially trained professionals all over Europe, along with standardised quality assurance systems that we developed ourselves. Of course, our customers also profit from this broad expertise and in-depth experience of ours. Each customer is guaranteed the exact quality standards for its product that the product requires. There is no time-consuming implementation stage because we can draw on duly qualified, established quality assurance processes.

What does that mean, exactly?

Carsten Thiemt: Recently, for example, we received an inquiry regarding shipment of an expensive multiple sclerosis product to India. Our expertise in cold chain management helps us process such inquiries quickly. We know what to watch out for and use packing materials and coolers that are 100% appropriate for this kind of shipment. Through our selection of the right packaging we can guarantee that the product will be at the right temperature for 72 hours, no matter what happens during the transport. Elaborate tracking and tracing software solutions document the entire process and guarantee maximum transparency and the greatest security for our customers.

Martine François: In addition, we audit ourselves at regular intervals and analyze our processes in detail. That is the only way we can ensure that these processes function smoothly at all times. Quality and safety simply have the highest priority.