The food & beverage (F&B) and pharma industries aren’t quite polar opposites, but they are very different. This includes their supply chains.
For example, F&B companies must get their products to grocery stores, hotels, airports, restaurants, and other “consumer-centric” clients, while pharma companies’ primary customers are hospitals, clinics, pharmacies, and other stakeholders in the health care system. Their products also have different environmental and compliance requirements.
But there are similarities. Both industries want to ensure the purity and safety of their products. Both want to get their products to end users quickly, securely, and on time. Both work with diverse trading partners, including wholesalers and distributors. Both want their supply chains to optimize operations and boost bottom lines.
And there’s one more similarity: Both can benefit from a full-stack supply chain solution — like our signature rfxcel Traceability System (rTS) platform.
What is a “full-stack” supply chain solution?
A full-stack supply chain solution gives customers a complete, integrated set of technologies to control their entire supply chain. rTS is a full-stack solution comprising software that empowers companies to see deeply into their supply chains in real time. It yields data that can optimize operations, and gives peace of mind because everything is managed and accessible in one secure, private cloud-based location.
Furthermore, full-stack solutions are easily customizable and system validation is automated based on customer requirements. Users determine the features they need and choose the appropriate components. For example, rTS includes solutions that are critical for both F&B and pharma, such as rfxcel Serialization Processing, rfxcel Compliance Management, and rfxcel Analytics. But it also includes products designed for each industry, such as rfxcel Raw Ingredients Traceability for F&B and rfxcel Verification Router Service (rVRS) for pharma.
What are the benefits of a full-stack solution?
Probably the greatest benefit of a full-stack supply chain solution is “all-in-one” power and convenience. Instead of a piecemeal approach to supply chain management — using different providers for different solutions — a full-stack solution centralizes your operations.
F&B and pharma companies have to ask themselves, “Do I really want to spend my time finding a different tool for every task? One for compliance, one for serialization, one for data analytics, one for scanning, and on and on and on?”
They also have to ask what problems this approach might cause. Can they be certain their solution providers can communicate with one another? Are the providers actually in competition with one another? Can they share data quickly and securely? If something goes wrong with one solution, will the problem cascade throughout the supply chain — and can they find the right person to fix it?
Another advantage is that a full-stack solution provider will understand your needs much better than a disparate collection of providers. They can analyze your entire supply chain, identify your needs, and tailor just the right combination of solutions to meet your goals. It’s a holistic approach that sees both the individual components of your supply chain and the end-to-end “big picture,” from manufacturing to the consumer.
Plus, you’ll have just one point of contact for all your inquiries and support. If you have a question or a problem, you’ll know that you’re contacting the right person and you’ll get answers quickly.
rfxcel’s full-stack traceability solutions in action
Let’s illustrate some benefits of our full-stack traceability solution by highlighting rTS, rIM, and our MobileTraceability app. With these, pharma and F&B companies have all bases covered in a seamless, integrated, end-to-end supply chain traceability solution.
With rTS, pharma companies will know they’re compliant with regulations everywhere they do business, such as the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) in the USA, the Falsified Medicines Directive (FMD) in the EU, as well as regulations in Russia, Saudi Arabia, China, Brazil, and other countries. F&B companies will know they’re meeting the requirements of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), the UK’s Food Standards Agency, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, and others. They’ll also be compliant with GS1 standards and their customers’ requirements.
Using rIM to monitor products in real time as they move through the supply chain, both industries can ensure they’re meeting environmental requirements, such as temperature and humidity parameters. If a problem arises, rIM sends an alert and they can take immediate action.
Key actors at every node of the supply chain can use our MobileTraceability app to scan and record events, track products, and manage items down to the unit level. For example, using the app on a smartphone with a scanner, pharma stakeholders can verify, decommission, and aggregate serialized products at any stage of the supply chain. A F&B stakeholder can record data about raw materials (e.g., batch number, supplier, date of arrival, expiration, and analytics) and trace any ingredient that’s part of the finished good.
A full-stack supply chain solution has numerous benefits for F&B and pharma — as well as any other industry that wants to simplify, coordinate, and optimize its supply chain. To learn more about how our full-stack rTS platform can transform your supply chain, contact us today!
