Inbound Logistics | July 2024

the active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) necessary for our most critical medicines; it jumps to 45% when we consider key starting materials, the building blocks for APIs,” says Colonel Victor A. Suarez, USA (Ret.), lead vaccine program manager for the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at Operation Warp

What Are The Top Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Challenges?

40%

34%

28%

30%

25%

21%

Speed/BARDA in 2020-2021. “Our over-reliance on China

20%

and other high-risk sources for vital components places us in a precarious position, subject to international politics and market manipulations,” he adds. Suarez estimates that some 300 essential medicines were in short supply in the United States during 2023. “That shortage has real-world impacts, affecting everything from emergency services to cancer treatments,” he notes. MOVING FORWARD THROUGH TECHNOLOGY As with most industries, the medical and pharma verticals are turning toward advanced technologies to help improve supply chain efciency and effectiveness. From cloud computing to AI and robotics, among others, technology tools and solutions are rapidly changing the healthcare supply chain landscape. Here’s a closer look at ve technologies that healthcare shippers

10%

Product damage or spoilage spoilage

Lost or misplaced inventory

Temperature excursions

Compliance issues

Inaccurate temperature data during transit

Source: Cloudleaf / Sapio Research Survey

Cloud-based solutions can be particularly appealing to smaller

and logistics providers commonly implement to help manage their supply chains effectively. . CLOUDBASED SUPPLY CHAIN NETWORKS A centralized supply chain system, facilitated by the cloud, enables all parties involved in managing the supply chain to communicate, transact, and access the same set of data.

companies for whom purchasing or licensing a complete supply chain solution is not nancially viable. These companies can instead opt for a vendor-managed, cloud-based supply chain network that is set up on a subscription model. “A cloud solution allows organizations to have the full suite of capabilities and functionality that they need, specically designed for supply chain management and, with some vendors, specically designed for the healthcare industry,” says Oracle’s Miles. “Additionally, cloud solutions allow healthcare organizations to have the most innovative solutions at their ngertips and enable them to better keep up with continuously changing market dynamics,” she adds. Gaining access to the latest supply chain technology without having to rely on in-house IT and systems is a major cost and time saver. Equally important is the ability of all supply chain participants to access and utilize a common, secure, and uniform data repository in the cloud.

U.S. pharmaceutical shippers frequently source key components for medicines from China and other foreign countries, increasing the impact and risk of global supply chain disruptions.

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