Pharmaceutical Supply Chain, What, How its works, & its benefits
As we are aware, supply chain in pharma industry is the lifeline of the healthcare industry that ensures medicines, vaccines, and other essential products reach patients safely and timely. The pharmaceutical supply chain is more complex as opposed to the normal supply chains. It has to carefully abide by rules, guard product quality, and tend to delicate transports into world markets. Each sourcing-to-final-delivery process has to be accurate and controlled.
Nevertheless, there are numerous ongoing pharma supply chain problems, like increased costs, delays, and compliance risks facing firms. The constant pharma supply chain problems show that the old way is not
sufficient anymore.
To remain efficient, companies now run to intelligent supply chain management in the pharma industry using ERP supply chain platforms, robust warehouse management systems, and precision inventory management systems.
In this article, we will discuss the problems, solutions, and the future of this crucial supply chain.
Before proceeding further, shall we first know what the pharma supply chain actually means?
What is the Pharma Supply Chain?
Whenever we mention the word "healthcare," what comes to our mind is doctors, hospitals, and medicines. However, between each pill or vaccine, there is a complex chain of events known as the pharma supply chain. The process begins with the raw ingredient sourcing, followed by rigorous manufacturing processes, storage, distribution, and delivery to the patients.
What makes the pharmaceutical supply chain unique is its responsibility. In contrast to normal products, medicines need to be controlled in terms of temperature, they should be tracked with the necessary level of detail, and they must meet severe regulations. Even the smallest inconvenience in the production, transport, and storage of food can affect patient health.
In other words, supply chain management in pharma is an order that keeps healthcare going with the right product reaching the right patient at the right time.
Now, we will discuss the supply chain in pharma industry step by step.
How Pharma Supply Chain Works
Here are some major steps:
Manufacturing Under Strict Standards
It starts with the raw materials, such as active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and pharmaceutical excipients, being mixed to make finished medicines. Based on Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) applications, this aspect will ensure that there is consistency in quality, safety, and compliance in all products that make up the basis of pharmaceutical supply chain management.
Safety Packaging and Labelling
After production, medicines are packaged under high care and labelled with production batch numbers, expiration, and dosing information. Fine labelling to guarantee the traceability of the products serves to facilitate compliance and can identify products during recall.
Storage in Controlled Environments
The medicines should be stored in warehouses in accordance with Good Storage Practice (GSP). Contemporary warehouse management systems and inventory management systems aid in the control of temperature and contamination as well as scale stock levels.
Distribution to Healthcare Providers
The distribution channels are wholesalers, pharmacies, and hospitals. The quality and integrity of medicines remain in the supply chain by following Good Distribution Practice (GDP) in the pharma industry.
Delivery to Patients
Lastly, medicines find their way to patients with the help of pharmacies or health professionals. Every stage is closely guarded, and ERP supply chain solutions assist in preserving transparency, accuracy, and synchronized completion.
Even well-structured pharma supply chains encounter obstacles, so it’s time to understand the key challenges that affect the movement of medicines.
Pharma Supply Chain Challenges
The pharmaceutical supply chain is a complex system that brings with it its challenges. In contrast to the traditional sector, the pharma industry is required to be highly regulated, assure the quality of its products, and oversee delicate logistics. These are the major challenges:
Regulatory and Quality Assurance
Pharma companies should adhere to Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), Good Storage Practices (GSP), and Good Distribution Practices (GDP). Failure to comply may result in recall, fines, or supply breakdown. Traceability and documentation throughout all stages increase the overall complexity of operations.
Temperature-Sensitive Products
There are numerous medicines and vaccines that have to be managed with cold chains. Poor handling, storage, or transportation has the potential to degrade the products, which impacts their efficacy and patient safety. It is always difficult to ensure temperature control in worldwide distribution.
Inventory Control and Out of stocks
It is important to balance supply and demand. Less than optimal inventory management systems or warehouses can produce stock outs or overstocks that cost money and place patient care at risk.
Traceability and Visibility of the Supply Chain
There is also an inability to track products in real time due to limited visibility with multiple stakeholders involved. The combination of ERP supply chain systems and warehouse management systems can contribute to the optimality of transparency, although it is costly and needs harmony.
Counterfeit and Diversion Risk
Fraudulent/irregular medicines infiltrating the pharmaceutical supply chain could present severe health hazards. It must be assured that the supply chain will be secure, traceable, and verifiable so as to safeguard patients.
Global Logistics and Distribution Challenges
There are customs delays, geopolitical threats, and logistical inefficiencies on international shipments. It is becoming difficult to balance the coordination of the global supply chain and the integrity of the pharmaceutical supply chain.
To address these challenges, drug companies are increasingly using ERP systems to simplify company processes and keep them compliant.
ERP in Pharma
Modern pharma supply chain management depends primarily on Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems. They combine various processes like production, inventory, warehousing, distribution, and compliance into one platform, making them more efficient with increased visibility.
How ERP Can Resolve Pharma Supply Chain Challenges
The pharmaceutical supply chain has several challenges to overcome, including shortages in inventory, regulatory compliance, and intricate distribution. ERP supply chain solutions offer the resources to address those challenges in a cost-effective and dependable way.
Better inventory and stock management
ERP helps in integrating inventory management and real-time tracking systems and thus making a company have optimal stock levels. This prevents stock shortages, overstocking, and medicine wastage, ensuring that medicines are always available for patients.
Optimized Distribution and Logistics
ERP systems rationalize distribution planning and warehouse management system. They facilitate coordination of shipments, monitor delivery, and uphold integrity even for the temperature-sensitive medications.
Data-Driven Decision Making
ERP systems ensure managers can track production schedules, inventory levels, and the performance of the supply chain with real-time reports and dashboards and analytics. It is a data-driven strategy that is efficient and less costly as well as allows proactive planning.
Integration with Advanced Technologies
More advanced ERP solutions are able to communicate with IoT solutions and automated warehouses, as well as temperature sensors. This guarantees the use of cold chain management, the safeguarding of product quality, and the possibility of quickly addressing the issue of chain interruption in the pharma industry.
In addition to addressing the problems, ERP systems present even bigger advantages that enhance the overall supply chain in pharma industry.
Benefits of ERP in Pharma
ERP in the pharmaceutical supply chain has many benefits. These advantages are not to solve problems but to improve efficiency, visibility, and compliance across the industry.
Streamlined Operations
ERP is a unified system that contains production, inventory, warehousing, and distribution. This streamlining minimizes error and coordination changes and has the medicines flowing smoothly between the manufacturer and the patient.
Better Inventory Management
When the inventory management has a connection to the ERP system, they can manage their stocks and transform their inventory control to real-time inventory data, and they can be able to predict stock demand and avoid overstocking and stock outs. This prevents shortages of medicines and reduces wastage.
Maximized Warehouse and Distribution
The ability to integrate with warehouse management systems, as well as logistics tools, means an improved use of space, quicker order fulfillment, and safe travel with medicines, including temperature-sensitive medicines.
Data-Driven Decision Making
ERP dashboards offer practical insights into the production schedules, inventory, and the performance of distribution. Managers can make effective and proactive decisions to promote efficiency and minimize costs.
Enhanced Collaboration and Transparency
ERP establishes a common ground that enables real-time, consistent data to be available to all participants at all levels, whether they are manufacturers, distributors, or healthcare providers. It further enhances coordination and trust within the pharma industry's supply chain.
How Dynamics Square Helps
We all know that getting the right ERP partner can be the key to making your pharma supply chain management easy to handle. This is why Dynamics Square is on top of the game.
Dynamics Square, as a Microsoft Partners, assists pharmaceutical companies to manage their pharma supply chain more efficiently. Our ERP solutions can make operations easier, enhance compliance, and provide total visibility of your processes.
Contact Dynamics Square today for expert supply chain management in Pharmaceutical, smooth support, and a long-term success strategy.
Email: info@dynamicssquare.ca
Phone: +1 289 807 0740
Tailor-made ERP Solutions
Our ERP systems suit your business needs to manage production, storage of the products, and the distribution from inventory to the warehouse.
Improve Operations and Delivery
Dynamics Square can also help streamline your warehouse operations and manage your shipments, not to mention ensure the quality of your products, even when they are temperature-sensitive medications.
Real-Time Insights for Better Decisions
Our ERP solutions will provide you with dashboards and reports that will help track stock, production, and supply chain performance, enabling you to make smarter and faster decisions.
Ongoing Support
It is not enough to implement ERP, as we offer training, support, and optimization so your pharma supply chain can run smoothly and efficiently.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the future of the pharmaceutical supply chain?
The future is all about digitization, automation, and management through ERPs. The pharma industry will enhance visibility, efficiency, and compliance within the supply chain through technologies such as the IoT, advanced warehouse technologies, and predictive analytics.
What is the pharmaceutical supply chain management cycle?
The pharma supply chain management cycle involves SAR planning, sourcing, manufacturing, storage facilities, distribution, and delivery. ERP systems can be used to combine these phases, thus facilitating efficient operations, regulatory compliance, and complete traceability.