tempmate GmbH, a German provider of comprehensive monitoring solutions for critical supply chains, has announced a new partnership with PAXAFE, a logistics orchestration and decision intelligence SaaS platform based in the US.
The collaboration is centred around the shared aim of protecting the integrity of pharmaceutical supply chains worldwide, bringing together more than 40 years of cold chain expertise and next-generation, AI-powered logistics intelligence.
This initiative was unveiled on the margins of LogiPharma, the world’s largest life sciences supply chain event, held from 14–16 April at the Austria Center in Vienna. The official announcement followed day one of the conference at an exclusive Royal Casino-themed VIP evening, hosted at DaRose Vienna.
A shared vision
Speaking at the reception, Bryan Schultz, Chief Growth Officer at PAXAFE, said: “We’re a relatively young company. We’re not nearly as young as people think, but we’re also not 40 years in the business. We’re growing rapidly, and we don’t yet have a presence in Europe.”
He continued: “Philosophically, [tempmate] is driven like we are. They’re very customer-focused. They’re not growing at any cost. They really care, and we do too.”
Rouven Dochtermann, Chief Operating Officer at tempmate, agreed: “It has something to do with our philosophy and vision – the direction [PAXAFE] wants to go as an independent software company, combined with our legacy […] and the direction we want to go, was super similar from the beginning.
“We want to get rid of data silos and provide our clients with a seamless, flawless journey. Therefore, this partnership was the right direction.”
Daniel Fiedrich, Head of Customer Solutions at tempmate, highlighted that the partnership will strengthen both players’ market presence.
“We are competing against huge companies, but we still have a position in the market,” he said.
“We are somewhere around the top five data logger suppliers, not in turnover, but we can compete with all the big players, especially now with our AI and expertise-focused comprehensive solutions.
“We need an alliance to do that […] everything that we generate in turnover, we reinvest in R&Ds, so finding synergies like this helps us.”
Beyond compliance
Founded in 1983, tempmate brings decades of experience in monitoring sensitive goods. Today, 65% of its business is related to pharmaceuticals.
The company serves more than 1,500 customers across 90 countries, processing over one million shipments annually, and supports a network of more than 100 distributors.
At LogiPharma, tempmate showcased its solutions for monitoring the temperature and conditions of cargo throughout its journey.
This includes chaingr®, a scalable monitoring ecosystem which connects devices and data to deliver real-time visibility, proactive risk alerts, and predictive intelligence.
Time- and temperature- controlled logistics management is crucial to ensure that drugs remain effective for patients.
Julien Mutschler, Customer Success Manager at tempmate, explained that such technology is required and absolutely necessary for suppliers and medical professionals to prove their compliance with strict regulatory requirements.
“[They] need to fully prove that nothing impacted the quality of the medication,” he said. “For any kind of transportation or storage, they want full visibility on the conditions the medication met.”
Julien hopes that the future will bring a more sustainable datalogger solution.
“There are discussions happening – clients are more aware and expect to be able to reuse or recycle the loggers.
“We are working on reverse logistics, clarification of any exportation requirements, taxes, and so on.”
Reactive to predictive
Daniel highlighted that tempmate has identified real-world scenarios where its technology could have prevented damage to cargo.
“[A company] made a shipment from Aachen to Mexico City one summer, and they did not use thermal blankets,” he said. “The pallet was left out on the tarmac, and it basically fried in the sun.
“If they had a platform like [tempmate’s], which knows the product, it would have recommended the use of thermal blankets […] and prevented the loss.
“The whole culture is still really reactive, but we have to change into being predictive, including being able to give recommendations to protect shipments before something happens.”
This predictive capability has the potential to be bolstered by the use of artificial intelligence (AI). The company’s new partner, PAXAFE, brings significant expertise in this field.
Chandler Williams, Head of Customer Success at PAXAFE, explained that through combining device data with historical data, AI tools can help pinpoint specific airports where there are high incident rates.
“Predictive AI can tell you if there is going to be an excursion before it happens,” he added. “We look at trends of when excursions happen, we model that out […] and then we look for patterns.
“We can then say ‘This is a repeat of what we saw before. If nothing changes on this lane, you’re going to have an excursion.’”
Leveraging the advantages of AI
Rouven pointed out that the use of AI could lead to further benefits such as lowering inventory costs. “The responsibility and the workload is changing from ‘I do this job,’ to ‘I orchestrate what the system has to fulfil.’
“There might be a human in the loop, as long as we do not trust AI fully, but we will come closer to autopilot – that’s the goal.
“Everyone says that AI is the future, but we have to use AI the right way,” added Daniel.
“We are trying to find where we can use AI to ease up processes. That can then save time for high quality personnel to do tasks that really matter.
“A human manager does not have to check a report to see if there was an excursion or not, for example.”
The ability for supply chains to anticipate and prepare for shocks, rather than simply react to them, is now a necessity in an increasingly unpredictable world.
The current conflict in the Middle East, and the resulting impact on global logistics, further highlights this reality. However, despite these disruptions, logistics providers are continuing to find solutions to keep supply chains moving and maintain end-to-end visibility, Rouven emphasised.
“What we need to do, and what we already do in our platform, is use data to predict the impact of strikes, wars and so on, which helps us to be on time, accurate, and reliable,” he said.
“We as a company do not want to keep everything just for us – we want to knowledge share, and use both our data and others’ together to help and support our clients.”
