Exel wins Bristol-Myers Squibb's 3PL services contract

BMS has chosen Exel (Westerville, OH), the wholly owned contract-logistics subsidiary of DHL, to operate its Mount Vernon, IN distribution center. Exel will purchase and operate the DC, and will open a second DC on its Mechanicsburg, PA campus expressly for BMS. The Exel services include warehousing and distribution of products (both cold-chain and room temperature), clinical trials, samples and exports. BMS will be the primary customer at the facilities, although Exel has the flexibility to add other Exel customers in the future to create a shared-use facility. No financials or contract duration were announced.

Exel has 13 hubs in North America and one in Brazil; of these 14, 4 are specifically designated for life sciences services. Within Exel’s range of operations, there is the capability to perform secondary packaging and kitting, as well as basic storage, distribution and transportation management.

The BMS-Exel deal is similar, in broad outline, to that of UPS, which took over the DCs of Merck in 2009. There, too, the 3PL acquired the facility, and has plans to bring other life sciences clients in to bring efficiencies of scale to overall supply chain services. More such arrangements can be expected as Big Pharma continues to shed non-core assets.