NYK Logistics wins

AstraZeneca has awarded NYK Logistics (UK) Ltd a contract for the centralised planning and primary distribution of pharmaceutical products from its manufacturing sites throughout Europe into its European distribution network.

Using NYK's established pan-European network of road transport partners, the operation involves the temperature-controlled distribution of almost 50,000 pallets of product per annum from 10 manufacturing plants across the UK, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy and Sweden to 30 delivery points throughout Europe.

Prior to NYK's appointment, AstraZeneca's manufacturing plants operated independently and were responsible for their own transportation.

Under the new agreement, NYK is providing centralised management and planning of the entire pan-European road transportation operation, maximising co-loading and round trip opportunities.

NYK is also developing co-loading opportunities with other pharmaceutical manufacturers within the existing NYK European network, delivering further cost savings. In the longer term, the development of a pharmaceutical cross-dock network will support the transformation of AstraZeneca's supply chain from "push" to "pull", reducing inventory in the pipeline and providing a more responsive service to customers.

Of the 22 companies invited to tender for the business, NYK was the only one not to be an existing AstraZeneca supplier.