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more when a shipment is spread over multiple pall
ets,” explains Kuners of Koenders. “Two data loggers per truck is pretty standard, two per pallet for an expensive product or newly released product is not unusual. For products that are shock sensitive, shock indicators are common.” Among the biggest mistakes enterprises make in designing their plans are cutting corners to save money, which can result in damaged products and lost revenue. While Kuners of Koenders said he is not aware of any reliable figures charting losses in the medical industry due to improper shipping practices, “From personal experience, I know that several million U.S. dollars per year is on the low end.” Often, usually because the risk is not considered to be significant, and with cost being an issue, he notes that strategies may not be comprehensive enough, resulting in transport excursions for which there is not information about the resulting product quality, and hence, resulting in a loss of that shipment. When seeking advice from consultants or experts, companies should 106 be certain to ask how they designed their strategy and which considerations have been taken into account; such as the regions they serve, which transports they use and how lab results have fed into the design of the transport validation protocol. “Companies should look for a consultant who is knowledgeable on the subject, has done shipping and transport validations, and possibly packaging validation as well, as both are closely related. To limit exposure in shipping and transport typically the packaging is put to use,” says Kuners of Koenders” NLS