Envirotainer, the global market leader in secure cold chain solutions for air transport of pharmaceuticals, broadens its existing partnership with Unilode Aviation Solutions, the leading provider for outsourced Unit Load Device (ULD) management and repair solutions, to meet the upcoming worldwide demand for the COVID-19 vaccine distribution.

Envirotainer has increased its active temperature-controlled container capacity at several key locations around the world for its customers in the pharmaceutical supply chain to ensure the fast, safe and reliable delivery of vaccines and other healthcare products, which require high-quality cold chain packaging solutions. Envirotainer has been working with Unilode since 2013 for the repair, maintenance, handling, transportation and storage of temperature-controlled active air freight containers at 24 strategic locations. The latest joint service innovation is the development of pop-up ground handling and repair shops. These will be implemented, at short notice, for large volume COVID-19 vaccine distributions, closer to key pharmaceutical production hubs, to ensure the fast and safe delivery of the much needed vaccines across the world.

Niklas Adamsson, COO Envirotainer, said: ”Unilode has been Envirotainer’s trusted partner for several years, and especially in these times our partnership is very important for our operations as it enables Envirotainer to support the upcoming unprecedented global demand of vaccine distribution with our cold chain solutions. Unilode is increasing its MRO capacity at key locations and will support Envirotainer with maintenance and repair services at our recently started ground operations in Beijing, China. Unilode’s expertise in the maintenance and repair of Envirotainer’s active containers will ensure the optimal performance of our containers when time is of the essence and availability of the units is crucial to ensure the success of global vaccine distribution. We look forward to deepening our partnership with Unilode.”

Don Jacobs, Managing Director MRO Solutions, Unilode, said: “As the world prepares for the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine, stakeholders in the air cargo and pharmaceutical supply chain need to ensure a seamless and efficient end-to-end cold chain that includes the availability of temperature-controlled containers for the quick and efficient transportation of the vaccine. The strong partnership between Unilode and Envirotainer has provided a solid foundation to look for additional solutions to support the aviation and pharmaceutical industries and we have developed joint initiatives to meet the anticipated high demand for the distribution of pharmaceuticals around the world. Unilode’s global ULD MRO solutions make it possible to provide additional repair capability to meet its partners’ requirements and we are pleased that Unilode can help support the global distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine by saving time and increasing the availability of active containers for Envirotainer’s pharmaceutical customers.”