The health care supply chain and the pharmaceutical industry have realized great benefits from track and trace, product serialization, and related requirements in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA). For example, manufacturers, repackagers, and wholesale distributors can now verify all the products they sell and receive, and guarantee there are no counterfeit drugs on the market.
But what makes that possible? How can they track and trace all the products in the pharmaceutical supply chain?
What Does Track and Trace Mean in Pharma?
Track and trace enables pharmaceutical manufacturers, repackagers, and wholesale distributors to follow products through the entire supply chain. Using traceability platforms, they can track their products at the individual unit level, enabling them to verify every product and instantly identify problems, such as a potential counterfeit drug or environmental excursions. This revolutionary solution will significantly improve order fulfillment and transform the entire health care supply chain.
Serialization is the key to track and trace. Serialization is the process of assigning unique two-dimensional (2D) bar codes to each product (i.e., at the unit level). Today, it’s common for companies to store the codes in a secure cloud. Blockchain, a distributed-ledger technology, has garnered some interest but has yet to be widely adopted in pharma supply chain operations.
Why Is Order Fulfillment So Important?
Imperfect order fulfillment leads to lost revenue — even damage to a brand’s reputation — because delayed or incomplete orders negatively affect customer experience.
Suppliers with delayed orders can even face hefty fines from the retailers who distribute their products. If you don’t want to incur penalties or risk losing customers, you need to make sure you always fulfill your orders accurately and on time.
Track and trace solutions have an advantage here because they provide end-to-end visibility of the entire pharmaceutical supply chain. In other words, every single product can be traced. Retailers can proactively monitor goods in real time (e.g., locations of their orders and how they are being processed) and make sure there are no discrepancies or failed transactions.
Such proactive monitoring enables predictive visibility, which helps satisfy all customers. It makes the ordering process much smoother, shortens order-to-delivery cycles, reduces out-of-stock rates, and helps increase revenue.
The conclusion is that track and trace, teamed with product serialization, drives business value. And not only in pharma, but virtually any industry that operates a supply chain. By increasing visibility and enabling real-time monitoring, it helps optimize inventory, fulfill orders, speed and simplify returns and recalls, increase revenues, and improve brand loyalty.
If you are seeking a superior track and trace solution, contact the rfxcel team. The most tenured track and trace company in the life sciences, rfxcel will help you optimize your operations no matter the circumstances (We even have a solution that enables you to connect to any blockchain.) From meeting all DSCSA compliance requirements and eliminating counterfeit drugs to building your brand reputation and increasing revenues, rfxcel has you covered.
