Pharma Execs Site Supply Chain Visibility To Boost Manufacturing

More than nine in 10 executives plan to implement a more robust digital supply chain visibility (SCV) solution over the next 12 months, according to a new report from FourKites.

The Pharmaceutical Supply Chain: Closing Visibility Gap report surveyed supply chain executives working in pharmaceuticals, biotech, cell and gene therapy, medtech, and other industries.

Researchers found that nearly half of pharmaceutical organizations have already deployed visibility technology to track raw materials and better plan manufacturing.

But many of these organizations are dissatisfied with the capabilities of their current solutions.

Most existing visibility solutions fail to account for the nature of pharmaceutical supply chains, including cold chain shipping, raw material availability, shipment security, stringent temperature, quality control measures, and high inventory costs.

Specifically, 32 percent of executives identified product protection and the need to quarantine as their biggest pain points in transporting and storing goods while nearly 50 percent said that security and temperature reporting were the most significant roadblocks.

Additionally, 60 percent of organizations consider quality assurance the main driver of enhancing security and visibility requirements. And 39 percent of respondents identified supplier manufacturing visibility as the greatest concern.

“Only end-to-end supply chain visibility and insights can provide pharmaceutical manufacturers and healthcare providers with the adaptability, precision and agility needed to provide the best patient care and to reduce waste,” Mathew Elenjickal, founder and CEO of FourKites, said in the announcement.

Notably, the COVID-19 pandemic further highlighted the need for visibility at every point in the supply chain.

Vaccine losses due to temperature excursions cost nearly $34.1 billion annually. But an increase in supply chain visibility into the cold chain could have saved one billion vaccines during the pandemic.

As the pandemic and other disruptions continue to challenge pharmaceutical supply chains globally, FourKites is helping industry leaders track critical medical supplies from origin to final destination.

This initiative reduces costs and ensures compliance with essential quality standards.

“Accenture was excited to partner on this research with FourKites, the pioneer and clear leader in real-time supply chain visibility solutions, which will serve as an important step in drawing attention to ways to alleviate these pain points,” said Gregory Demitrack, life sciences, strategy & consulting manager at Accenture.