Pharma Logistics: Common Challenges and How Custom Solutions Can Solve Them
By: Xb Software
Tags: Pharma, Pharmaceuticals Industry, Pharmaceutical, Pharmacy, Logistics

Logistics in the pharmaceutical industry involves many people, facilities, and suppliers, which leads to the need for detailed coordination and scrupulous control. Pharma companies often deal with expensive and life-saving products, which increases the risks and the level of required responsibility. Medical supplies should be delivered to their destination quickly, safely, and under certain conditions such as a specific temperature range. Additionally, there may be an increased demand for certain medicines during periods of seasonal diseases. All these aspects lead to multiple challenges that a pharmaceutical company might face.

To avoid losing partners and increase their competitive advantage in the market, pharma companies need to work on improving the effectiveness of operations and revise outdated solutions. In this article, we’ll consider some of the main challenges of pharma logistics and look at software solutions that help to overcome them.

Human Resource Dependency

Despite significant progress in robotization in many industries, most logistics systems are still highly dependent on human oversight. Medications should be moved smoothly through the supply chain to ensure the safety of the product. All product movements should be documented. Packages barcodes should be scanned and saved into the database. Expiration dates should be checked before sending. All these tasks must be performed by well-trained personnel that treats the work with due responsibility. Another critical issue to keep in mind is the probability of theft. Many pharmaceuticals are valuable and have a high profit for relatively low volumes. Theft can lead to potentially dangerous drugs, such as radiopharmaceuticals, ending up in the wrong hands.

A custom ERP software solution with built-in Human Resources Management features can increase the control over the staff of a pharmaceutical company and automate dozens of tasks, starting with the applicant tracking and ending with employee offboarding. With such a system in your possession, you can efficiently find and target a specialist with the required set of skills. An HR system with the background check functionality can generate a pre-employment screening report that will contain such info as employment history, education, credit history, criminal background, and even drug screens. Additionally, you can quickly assess employees’ performance and track time spent on performing particular tasks.

Warehouse Management

In 2019, the global pharmaceutical market reached $1,232 bn, and it is forecast to post a 5.4% compound annual growth rate at constant exchange rates through to 2023:

Such an intensive growing market leads to an increase in sales volume, which means that every aspect of a pharmaceutical company that can guarantee an interrupted shipment of products can’t be underestimated. Warehouse management is one of the crucial factors that affect the overall productivity of a pharmaceutical company. The reason is that when working with medicines, you have to follow many rules and regulations. For example, the Current Good Manufacturing Practices (CGMPs) that refers to the regulations provided by the US Food and Drug Administration includes the following rules…(Read more)