Okay since I have some extra time here in office, and the connection is so slow here so I'll finish up on Day 5.
In Zuellig and many other distributors, cold-chain storage and transportation is crucial for many types of products. There are different temperatures in different portions of the warehouse. One part is non-airconditioned, which is kept under 30 degrees Celcius, another air-conditioned part is kept below 25, and the cold-storage area, as mentioned, is kept at 2-8 degrees Celcius. In the cold storage area, workers fill in orders into styrofoam boxes and packed nicely with dry ice packs. These workers wear outer jackets and beanie, so it looks like they're working in siberia or something. The ice packs are also made in the warehouse in a special room. The ice packs are originally gel-like which need to be processed (not sure how its done) to become solid dry ice and then stored. Whenever the ice packs are needed, the packs are placed into conditioned refrigerators to condition them from negative something degrees to the range of 2-8 degrees.
There are also temperature loggers (mini thermometers with a USB plug) that is placed in the boxes which helps to monitor the temperature of that box throughout the transportation journey. The data recorded can then be transferred into the computers to trace back the temperature fluctuations should any dispute on the quality of transportation occurs. There are also thermometers hung from the ceiling at different points of the warehouse, which their data are fed into the computer systems in Zuellig. This gives the real-time temperature readings of the warehouse, and should the temperature deviate out of the desired range, an SMS alert will be sent to the plant managers for immediate action to be taken.
The redressing area is also tightly controlled, with many GMP procedures put into place. Workers need to change into specific attires (i think those are scrubs) with hair caps and the provided clean shoes before entering the redressing area. This is because the area is where the bulk products are taken out to be relabelled, rebundled (promo packs and stuff like that), or redressed with hologram stickers. Sometimes the LPC (the package insert in the packages) may also be replaced with a newer version, which is also done by the redressing team. Then, the bulk products are repacked into the big boxes to be stored on the bulk storage racks.
We were also told that cosmetics, unlike pharmaceutical poisons, do not need import license to be imported. However, they do need a notification note for each product as a proof of registration. You won't see the MAL license code for cosmetics imprinted onto cosmetic products, but sometimes they do appear and will be in the format of NOT0000000K, which is the same as MAL00000000K.
It's interesting to note that some drug-containing product for cosmetic use are not imported into Malaysia although it is used in other countries. For example, the Vitamin C injections are marketed in other countries, but Malaysia do not approve of that product as it appears to not have any pharmaceutical benefits. These are some of the things that distributors like Zuellig Pharma have to clarify and comply with.
To end the day, Boon Sia told us about the CME system, with private sector pharmacists having to collect 30 points per year, and on the other hand, the government hospital pharmacists need to collect a whooping 90 points annually! He said that working in government hospitals is in many ways beneficial. You will be able to learn a lot, and also keep up with the latest updates by the government. His advice to all future graduates is, no matter where you get posted to, take it up and learn as you go along. Everybody says they need to stay in their hometown to take care of their parents. Well, who doesn't have parents? The thing is, you can always apply to be relocated to your desired location. The thing about working in the pharmaceutical line is that, you will always cross paths with people in the same industry, or same line of work (not everyone can register to be pharmacists!). So networking is a huge advantage, do not hesitate to go out of your comfort zone. And yes, not to worry, government hospital pharmacists are one of the highly paid graduates, with about RM4k at least (that's what they said), what more in the private sector? Therefore, it is guaranteed that your degree won't go to waste.
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