Delivering triple value with real-time visibility at World Courier

With Hristo Petkov SVP of Sales, Controlant Hristo is dedicated to solving complex pharmaceutical logistics challenges for the sector, namely logistics and special logistics companies, packaging and wholesalers. Prior to joining Controlant in 2022, he led engagement with large pharma customers at A.P. Moller-Maersk where he initiated and built the Pharma vertical, among other roles related to cold chain and global trade. Hristo advocates improving product visibility and integrating logistics eco-systems to drive innovation in medications and collaboration for improved supply chains. He is passionate about contributing to the ongoing optimization of healthcare supply chains.

A natural alliance

Controlant empowers leading pharmaceutical companies and logistics providers worldwide through IoT monitoring devices, a comprehensive real-time visibility platform, and round-the-clock monitoring and response services. These solutions are built on an API-first architecture and address fundamental supply chain challenges while safeguarding product integrity and safety.

At the heart of Controlant's offering are Saga devices—rechargeable, reusable IoT monitoring devices that deliver continuous tracking and monitoring capabilities. The Controlant Platform ensures data is both instantaneous and pharma-validated, meeting the most rigorous quality and compliance standards. This real-time intelligence forms the backbone of intelligent automation, transforming complex cold chain management into streamlined operations.

World Courier is owned by Cencora, a top 10 Fortune 500 corporation, and specializes in pharmaceutical logistics with a presence spanning over 120 facilities across more than 50 countries, transporting and storing the full spectrum of pharmaceutical products, from investigational compounds to commercial medications, cell and gene therapies to raw manufacturing materials.

The synergy between these organizations is clear: Controlant offers purpose-built real-time IoT solutions for pharmaceutical supply chains, while World Courier requires sophisticated tracking capabilities for pharmaceutical products and reusable packaging. World Courier needs immediate access to actionable data—what's happening right now, when intervention is necessary, and how to optimize future operations. Critically, World Courier's clients demand this same level of transparency.

Elevating industry standards with real-time visibility

Through Controlant's platform, World Courier interprets complex data streams, identifies potential issues, and shares live shipment details with customers in real time.

Modern supply chain excellence—whether characterized as antifragile systems, ecosystem-based sustainability approaches, or patient-centric operations—ultimately depends on leveraging technology effectively to build more resilient and sustainable networks.

For the World Courier-Controlant collaboration, elevating standards means democratizing excellence. The remarkable outcomes they've achieved aren't reserved for premium clients or exclusively high-value shipments—these benefits are embedded into standard service offerings for all customers.

The three-dimensional value framework

The partnership's achievements can be understood through three interconnected value propositions:

For patients
Ensuring faster access and more reliable delivery of life-critical medications

For the planet
Minimizing product loss and reducing waste through rechargeable, multi-use monitoring devices

For partners and customers
Providing enhanced visibility and control over shipments while delivering industry-leading performance

Paula Pulsoni, VP of Sales and Services at World Courier, reflected on this approach at the 2024 Gartner Symposium: “What excited me about this partnership from the early days, when we selected Controlant as a partner to embark on this journey, it became really evident that our purposes were aligned and we really wanted to deliver on this triple value.”

This multi-dimensional approach to real-time visibility exemplifies how partnership-driven innovation creates value across pharmaceutical logistics, packaging, and distribution—with particular emphasis on transforming data into empowered decision-making.

Simplifying supply chain complexity

Real-time visibility technology delivers little value if the data remains inaccessible or difficult to interpret. Anyone who has tracked a package knows the frustration of seeing a status update without understanding when the next milestone will occur. User experience—how stakeholders consume and act on data—became a defining success metric for this partnership.

World Courier sought to extend their multi-use packaging visibility directly to customers. Controlant's Share Shipment feature provides an elegant solution: when World Courier customers access their tracking portal, a simple link opens a live view showing their product's exact location. The Share Shipment embedded whitespace view can be integrated directly into your system of choice to simplify the user experience.

Hristo Petkov, SVP of Sales at Controlant, explains: "The initial challenge was quite complex, but through data and technology, we created something remarkably simple and intuitive. Customers need no special login setup— they can access all the information they need in a single view for effortless tracking, without the need for additional tools." The feature offers customization options for location sharing, with live temperature data sharing now being implemented.

Pursuing perfection through innovation

Pulsoni described Controlant's solution as "very cool technology" at the Gartner event, explaining how it addressed the challenge of capturing critical data points across increasingly complex supply chains, by providing access to the data points their teams need to make informed decisions when supply chain disruptions occur.

World Courier’s supply chain was already operating exceptionally well, with a 99.9% successful delivery rate. Their ambitious goal was to capture that final 0.1% and achieve 100% success, deploying Controlant Saga devices across all multi-use packaging shipments. This pursuit of perfection significantly strengthens and future-proofs supply chain operations.

The strategic role of automation

Automation proves essential for supply chain resilience by ensuring that disruptions don't overwhelm manual resources and compromise system integrity. Consider automatic product release when no deviations have occurred—this empowers employees to focus their expertise where manual intervention genuinely adds value.

While real-time data captures everything, intelligent automation eliminates the need for constant human monitoring. Human expertise remains valuable for intervention, but shouldn't be wasted on routine oversight.

With recent developments in real-time monitoring and related supply chain technology, highly automated supply chains are now more easily achievable. Controlant is a leader in driving and developing the technological advances that enable antifragile pharma supply chains.

Controlant Share Shipment exemplifies this value-adding automation by dramatically reducing manual shipment investigation time. Track-and-trace teams can instantly share live links, giving users access to real-time updates through an intuitive self-service interface.
Scaling success through strategic collaboration

When transporting life-saving medicines, failure simply isn't acceptable. Both organizations' shared values and sense of purpose proved critical, driving them to succeed in building 100% reliability into the core service offering.

But as a global leader in specialty logistics, World Courier's scale presented unique implementation challenges. This rollout required training over 2,500 employees before launch and ensuring seamless client adoption. Through strategic planning, flexibility, and shared ambition, Controlant and World Courier deployed the solution in under six months—one month ahead of schedule.

Building healthier ecosystems through alignment

In healthcare, creating healthier futures represents the fundamental purpose driving all activities. Fulfilling this mission requires cultivating healthier ecosystems. As World Courier drives operational excellence and delivers tangible cost savings for customers, patient welfare must remain paramount.

Healthcare and sustainability both operate without margin for failure—our collective future depends on getting both right. World Courier and Controlant share responsibility for creating healthier futures, a purpose intrinsically connected to building healthier ecosystems. By eliminating waste in one of the world's most critical supply chains, they're shaping responsible operations and a more sustainable future for the planet.

With carbon emissions emerging as one of our era's greatest environmental and economic challenges, World Courier and Controlant prioritize emissions reduction while enhancing global logistics efficiency. Circularity plays a central role—enabled by designing reusable and recyclable elements into supply chain infrastructure.

Translating sustainability commitments into action

World Courier's commitment to sustainability is exemplified by their use of multi-use Saga devices, avoiding electronic waste emissions and saving approximately 1,965 tonnes of CO2eq annually.

Controlant maintains a validated science-based target, committing to reduce absolute scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 42% by 2030 from a 2022 baseline, while leadership actively measures and reduces scope 3 emissions. In 2023, our overall emissions decreased by 68% with scopes 1 and 2 emissions declining by 38%—on track to meet the 2030 science-based target. Controlant holds a Silver rating from EcoVadis, one of the world's most respected business sustainability evaluators, placing it in the top 15% of rated companies across all industries.

When World Courier selected Controlant as a vendor and partner, the science-based target was a decisive factor. Cencora, World Courier's parent company, maintains its own science-based targets and ESG initiatives, including ensuring most providers, vendors, and partners have established science-based targets as well.

Recognizing the critical importance for both patients and the planet, World Courier determined that real-time visibility couldn't be a premium feature—leading them to elevate industry standards. This approach keeps customers at the center of everything and, as the industry has matured, this capability should become universal.
Patient-centric technology in practice

Medical advances mean little if medications don't arrive safely and on time for patients who need them.

In an oft-cited example of the impact of real-time visibility, World Courier shares the true story of Maria, a patient with a rare genetic disorder in São Paulo, Brazil. Maria depends on medication delivered exclusively for her use, and her story beautifully illustrates why real-time visibility must be central to supply chain design.

During one shipment from Europe to Brazil, a cargo mismatch occurred that would normally require complete unloading and thorough inspection—potentially delaying delivery by hours or more. For Maria, such delays could prove catastrophic.

However, because a Saga device accompanied the shipment, World Courier pinpointed its exact location for the airline. Within 20 minutes, the shipment was retrieved and transferred to another flight, ensuring Maria received her treatment on time.

Maria received her medicine safely, nothing was wasted, and World Courier and their client achieved positive outcomes and return on investment. Patient, planet, partners.

Strategic insights

Controlant and World Courier collaborate to protect essential medicines, guarantee secure and timely deliveries, and establish new benchmarks for reliability and proactive risk management. The partnership highlights the importance of recognizing multi-value capabilities, designing operating models that evolve to capture multiple bottom-line benefits, identifying vendors who become true partners in digital transformation, and preparing supply chains for the future of real-time visibility and data-driven automation.

Read more about Controlant's shortlisting for the 2025 Healthcare and Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Excellence Awards