DHL opened their Life Sciences & Healthcare Competence Centers in Miami and Atlanta, in order to increase capacity across the company's global network. Both locations have dedicated trained personnel, temperature controlled rooms, and cutting-edge technology, such as SmartSensor for tracking and maintaining products' temperature range and integrity. Although temperature controlled shipments are handled at all DHL locations, these two facilities offer customers enhanced capabilities, increased capacity and greater flexibility to control their freight.

'Our facilities and specialized services give us greater flexibility to control customers' freight when incidents occur by having 24x7 visibility, and an infrastructure in place to recover freight and store it, maintaining its integrity,' said Marco Quiros, head of Business Development Life Sciences & Healthcare, DHL Americas.

The new Competence Centers were chosen as strategic launching points to transport pharmaceuticals, biotech, and medical devices throughout the Americas. The Atlanta and Miami teams currently handle shipments for some of the top pharmaceutical manufacturers in the world. The Atlanta Competence Center has applied for Free Trade Zone status to process pharmaceutical products for exporting outside of the U.S., and the city of Atlanta is home to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), a perfect location for organizations working in the area of medical research needing to house products. The Competence Centers also include cold storage for deep frozen, controlled 2 ' - 8 ' Celsius and controlled 15 ' - 25 ' Celsius.

These enhanced Competence Centers were launched as a result of customers need for specialized equipment for handling of materials, fulfillment of unique Standard Operations Procedures (SOPs), and ever changing industry requirements. The majority of products handled include: brand name pharmaceuticals, generic pharmaceuticals, medical equipment, cold-chain bio-tech products, blood, and animal health products.

'As a result of a series of Life Sciences training sessions that took place in 2011, our employees in Miami and Atlanta, as well as throughout the Americas, are highly equipped to handle all medical products,' said Quiros. 'They have gained insight into Good Distribution Practices (GDP) through sessions comprised of modules focusing on procedures and standards that ensure operational excellence.'

These two Life Sciences & Healthcare Competence Centers are in addition to 26 currently operating worldwide. The Centers are designed to provide a global network of dedicated people, customized processes, and a quality controlled environment specifically for shipping of pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical devices. DHL Global Forwarding customizes its solutions to meet the needs of its Life Sciences' and Healthcare customers.