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Self-Refrigerated, Cloud-Based Shipper Set to Tackle Return Logistics

Ember Technologies and Cardinal Health partnered on the shipper which offers unique ‘return to sender’ technology. Cardinal Health plans to launch a customer pilot for the Ember Cube in 2022.

1 Cubes

A new digital shipping box, developed by partners Ember Technologies, Inc. (Ember®) and Cardinal Health, is poised to cut down on waste in the pharmaceutical supply chain while upholding product integrity for 2 to 8°C temperature-sensitive biologics for 48 to 72 hours.

As Brian Bejarano, Vice President of Operations, Cardinal Health, reports that the Ember Cube is the only cloud-based, self-refrigerated shipping box, which uses GPS tracking technology via onboard cellular radio to communicate its location and real-time temperature at every point in the supply chain, using national parcel networks. Data can be accessed via Ember’s proprietary cloud-based dashboard.

Global spending on cold-chain pharmaceutical products is estimated to grow to more than $21 billion by 2024. Source: Biopharma Cold Chain Sourcebook 2020

“This technology provides unprecedented assurance of the integrity and security of temperature-sensitive products. In addition, the Ember Cube’s return-to-sender technology allows each Ember Cube to be reused hundreds of times, eliminating single-use packaging and potentially eliminating millions of tons of landfill waste,” he adds. Leaders at Cardinal Health and Ember estimate the Ember Cube will save 7 million pounds in medical shipping containers from the landfill annually.

The new Ember Cube will come in multiple sizes and will accommodate payloads from 125 cubic inches up to 900 cubic inches. For each size, the payload space is designed to be greater or equal to the space in the EPS and cardboard shippers used to ship medicines today.

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