UPS Healthcare is expanding its European hub facility in Roermond. The logistics provider is adding 21,860 square meters to the existing facility to increase its cold chain capacity. This expansion is crucial in ensuring a strong and reliable supply chain for a wide range of complex biopharmaceutical products.
With the expansion of the facility in Roermond, UPS can enhance its cold chain capacity and capabilities. The hub now has over 200 ULT freezers (ultra-low temperature) that can store temperature-sensitive products up to -80°C. Additionally, the facility is adding approximately 3,200 pallet positions to its existing portfolio for storing temperature-sensitive products at 2°C to 8°C.
On a global scale, UPS Healthcare now has 1.6 million square meters of cGMP- and GDP-compliant storage space, with 930,000 square meters dedicated to the cold chain. Since 2020, the company has more than doubled its global network of healthcare-compliant storage space.
The expansion of the facility addresses the increasing demand for advanced and temperature-controlled logistics in healthcare. The global market for biologic drugs is expected to grow from €342.9 billion in 2024 to €564.6 billion by 2029. The Dutch pharmaceutical sector is estimated to grow by 6.17% between 2024 and 2028, reaching a market volume of €7.03 billion by 2028.
Anouk Hesen, Operations Director of UPS Healthcare West Europe, emphasizes the changing healthcare needs of society. There is a growing demand for biologic drugs that require complex temperature-controlled logistics with sustainable end-to-end solutions. The expansion of the facility in Roermond allows UPS to offer a wider range of cold chain logistics to a rapidly growing and innovative market.
The Roermond facility is strategically located near UPS’s European air hub at Cologne-Bonn airport and has direct access to major ports such as Rotterdam, Amsterdam, and Antwerp. UPS Healthcare also has a fleet of temperature-controlled vehicles. Roermond is within a 1,000 km radius of 80% of the European healthcare market, enabling delivery within 24 hours across most of Europe.
To meet sustainability goals, the new UPS Healthcare facility in Roermond features 2,500 installed solar panels that generate over 1.2 GWh of energy. This is equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of over 450 households in the Netherlands. The solar panels allow UPS to feed electricity back to the grid, contributing to its local sustainability efforts and the goal of providing one in four facilities with renewable energy by 2025. By 2035, all facilities are expected to run on renewable energy.
UPS Healthcare’s sustainability efforts also benefit its customers. EU regulations require large and listed companies to regularly report on their environmental impact through sustainability reporting, which includes the emissions of suppliers. Lower emissions in UPS Healthcare facilities result in lower emissions for the customer chain.