Medlog, a Portuguese logistics firm specializing in delivery of medications to pharmacies, uses RFID-based temperature loggers to monitor the cold chain for sensitive medicines. At the end of 2009, the company expanded its use of RFID to all six of its warehouses in Portugal. Now, Medlog-which reported sales of $402m in 2008-is considering further upgrades to the system, such as automatic activation of those temperature loggers.
Medlog works to ensure that drugs are stored at the proper temperature from the time they are received from Medlog's 250 suppliers until they are delivered to some 1,000 clients. It does so, according to Paulo Pires, Medlog's logistics manager, in order to comply with EU regulations requiring that certain medications be kept at temperatures within a specified range during shipping and handling, as well as to differentiate itself among its competition by offering the service and near-real-time information regarding temperatures along the cold chain during the transport process.
