We work together
TO MEET GLOBAL DEMAND FOR COVID-19 VACCINESThe background

TThe advanco solution

he global COVID-19 pandemic has shaken theglobe to its core over the past two years. The
cause of both a public health and an economiccrisis, the pandemic has been described as the biggest
threat to civilization since the end of the Second WorldWar II.

Advanco deployed its stateof-the-art
serialization
and aggregation solution,
ARC Cold Chain, to meetthese complex logisticalchallenges.

One of the main defenses against COVID-19 is
the effective roll-out of the vaccines which wereresearched, developed, tested, regulated and rolled out
in just two years. By any stretch of the imagination,
this is a remarkable achievement, especially when you
consider that many people around the world have now
received their third dose.

Working with its partner, WIPOTEC-OCS, a serialization
and aggregation equipment supplier, advanco developed
for Thermo Fisher Scientific a custom track-and-trace
solution that would oversee movement of the vaccines
through the following processes in the supply chain:This achievement is even more significant when youconsider the challenges that the pharmaceuticalsupply chain has had to overcome. Some vaccinesrequire ultra-cold development, storage, and delivery
conditions, sometimes in temperatures of -80°F(-62°C), conditions which many suppliers had never
had to consider before.
The availability and subsequent delivery of COVID-19
vaccines in such a short time, against such achallenging and evolving landscape, and with the eyesof the world watching is highly commendable.

The challenges
One of the main ongoing logistical issues with thevaccine centers around distribution and storage, dueto a need for some of the vaccines to be stored at
extremely low temperatures. This led to Thermo Fisher
Scientific looking for a bespoke packaging solution,
one that enabled work to be carried out within the lowtemperatures and specific timescales needed.
In addition to the large quantities needed to meetworldwide demand for the vaccines, the packaging
material had to be frequently adapted to meet various
scenarios. Thus, the optimal solution would also haveto satisfy additional, unprecedented requirements—
most notably relating to serialization and traceabilityof vaccine packaging up and down the global supplychain.

Serialization and aggregation without
bundle labeling on the WIPOTEC-OCS line
Cold storage for 48 hours in the freezer
Aggregation from bundle to special
ultra-low temperature (ULT) shipper
Exception management through the ARC
Platform rework function

The ultra-low temperature needed by specific vaccinesrequires these functions to be completed within anarrow time window to minimize exposure to room
temperatures. The ARC deployment and processes wereespecially designed to meet these operational time
constraints.
Advanco introduced virtual aggregation hierarchies
and capabilities to manage exceptions involving label
damage and absence. The duration between initialrequirements specification and final software delivery
was exceptionally short, even though the requirements
were changed multiple times.
In view of the overall urgency dictated by a need for aswift global rollout of the vaccine, advanco implemented
the overall solution for Thermo Fisher in record time.
This was achieved by overcoming challenges specificto cold chain products, such as integrating manual
operations into a process, aggregation with virtuallabels on bundles and scale, and speed requirements.
Advanco was able to achieve these results by quickly
mobilising multiple resources from different specialist
areas, while ensuring adherence industry leading quality
control standards.

Furthermore, the frequent changes to packaging size,
aggregation hierarchy, and machinery involved meant
the serialization solution had to be adapted within ashort timescale.

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As a result, the vaccines have been in steady production
for some time now, and are being delivered safely andquickly to countries around the world.

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