India stood out honourably from worst hit Pandemic COVID-19 & transpired pharmaceutical industry making strides globally. Indian economy assures a promising future to prospect multinational companies to invest in its land especially for pharma companies.
Hyderabad, known as “The Pharma Hub of India” is dominant in manufacturing of bulk drugs & formulations, a process where the active drug is mixed with other components by considering the factors of particle size, solubility & becoming the final beneficial medicinal product. The pharma supply chain has immense scope of growth possibilities. As pharma industry grow, it dispenses ample options for logistics & Supply Chain Management companies to prosper. There are several factors, which once eradicating challenges, paves path for growth & successful expansion. Currently the supply chain is debilitated with complexities & offering end to end solution is an uphill battle. However, reducing the supply chain complexities can help unleash these challenges.
The Pharmaceutical logistics & supply chain can prosper by supporting impeccable network across continents, having flawless communication with such networks, suppliers, manufacturers, distributors & customers. In contemporary times, patient requirements & disease patterns have metamorphosed advancing frequent drug shortages & communicable disease outbreaks. In order to be world class & best performers, it is a requisite for pharma companies & pharma logistics to roll up their sleeves for such changes.
Pharmaceutical Logistics companies must necessitate to integrate commercial strategies with Sales & Operations planning (SOP) enabling to plan their market approach accordingly. The SOP must have detailed description of each process keeping clear of any kind of ambiguity in role & responsibilities. With integration of SOP in the process, an average of 10 to 20% increase has been embraced by Pharma Logistics. Disruptive events like reefer container malfunctioning, delayed railing of containers from ICD to wet port, congestions at transhipment ports causing delays & human handling errors can be countered with second line of action (commonly referred as Plan B) & in-depth process functioning of the shipment.
Automation in Manufacturing & packaging process is a common sight in big pharmaceutical companies. This artificial intelligence not only helps to distribute work evenly but also allows employees to focus on developing new strategies & innovations in system. Appreciating the significance of intelligent system, Pharmaceutical Logistics too geared up & accelerated their growth framework. Reducing complexity & focusing on growth unleashed array of benefits to Pharma Logistics.
Gearing up employees in the form of regular trainings, senior leaders focusing on quality service duly supported with compliance adherence is one of highly efficient factor for Pharma Logistics growth. Data integration in automation system makes a sizeable impact on the growth factor. The companies must undertake internal audits regularly by local compliance bodies ascertaining the possible errors & rectifying the same.
Technology has proven as one of predominant arena of Pharmaceutical Logistics to be attentive on. Advanced technology not only helps in transparency but also promotes better decision making. It integrates the network functioning, automate processes & increase visibility across the pharmaceutical supply chain.
There are several policies & upgradations being planned under National Logistics Policy revamping the road map of Shipping, Logistics & Supply Chain. The pharmaceutical logistics & supply chain compliance must strengthen up & be tightened for growth prospective. There is a robust scope for Cold storage and its distribution Chain. With temperature controlled storage system & transport boxes, themo-sensitive biologicals can be distributed without hindrance and financial implications.
A few leading pharmaceutical organisations have paved the way in taking initiatives to boost their quality standards, receiving positive affirmation from global regulatory bodies such as the FDA. The pharma fraternity abides by strict norms laid out by the regulatory authorities regarding product safety, public health & industry standards. A detailed guideline is advocated for labelling, packaging and temperature-humidity control during transits is enforced. In view of this, pharma logistics, supply chain & its distribution is regulated to gear up as per special guideline issued by the pharma companies. Movement & distribution of speciality products, drugs & vaccines has a growth potential for pharmaceutical logistics as they require special handling for maintenance of their shelf life.
To sum up, pharmaceutical vertical has a tremendous growth potential. Health care has taken precedency over all other verticals. Indian Government has launched new policies and programmes to boost local access and affordability to quality healthcare paving path for pharma logistics, supply chain & distribution.