Live Organ Transplants: Shipment Visibility Is A Matter Of Life And Death

Real-time visibility solutions are becoming more critical. All shippers — and end consumers — want to know where (and how) their products are. Still, visibility remains far more important for some loads than others. Most compromised shipments result in lost time and money. Some result in lost lives. 

Time-critical shipments cannot be delayed or compromised without serious consequences. If a mattress is delayed, it is inconvenient. If a live heart is delayed, a patient awaiting transplant could die. Only the boldest companies deal in these types of shipments. The best, most accurate location and condition tracking solutions are essential. Companies must get these shipments right, every single time. 

Tive has built a name for itself with its state-of-the-art trackers, software and support teams. The company set out to take visibility to the next level, providing real-time updates on everything from fresh produce to fine art. More recently, Tive has broken into the time-critical shipment space. Founder and CEO Krenar Komoni recently appeared on FreightWaves' WHAT THE TRUCK?!? podcast to discuss how the company has stepped up its game to provide tracking solutions for temperature and time-critical shipments like live organs and vaccine components. 

While Tive's visibility solution was already capable of providing real-time updates on shipment location and condition, the company built a new tracker — equipped with a more sophisticated chip that is 3-point calibrated — that allows for the most accurate temperature tracking possible.

"You want to make sure that you can trust the temperature data from the tracker completely," Komoni said. "With this new chip, you can download a report that meets the pharma requirements and be certain the measurements you're getting for those shipments are 100% accurate."

Having accurate, real-time temperature tracking helps pharmaceutical companies manage and maintain their stability budgets. A stability budget refers to precisely how much time a shipment can be outside its ideal temperature range before being considered ruined. This is similar to how temperature tracking is handled in the agriculture space, but rules and regulations are much stricter in pharma. 

Of course, temperature is not the only factor that matters when it comes to pharmaceutical visibility. Real-time, hyper specific location tracking is Tive's bread and butter, and this service is vital for managing time-critical shipments like organs and vaccines. 

"Customers have been able to save these loads because they know exactly where they are," Komoni said. "Sometimes they're on the tarmac. They were supposed to get on a plane, and they didn't make it. You need to make sure you catch that domino effect before the rest of the dominoes fall."

When transportation mishaps are caught early, it is often possible to stabilize and reroute a shipment quickly. In the case of a live organ, that instant identification of a problem can mean the difference between life or death for a patient waiting to receive a transplant.

Click here to learn more about Tive and the company's next-generation visibility solutions.