Pharma logistics work to tide over complex and time sensitive services with technology to assure reliable distribution

Bengaluru, August 8, 2022 :

Indian pharma logistics companies are working hard to tide over its complex and time sensitive services by implementing technology to assure reliable distribution. Following the Covid pandemic and the war in Ukraine, pharma sector is looking for new ways to ensure it is able to transport its medical products safely to the destination.

Vishal Totla, co-founder & COO, Shipyaari noted that pharma logistics is one of the most critical stages of the business as it assures safe and reliable distribution of medicines to patients. The pharma logistics industry isn't like any other logistics market. It is vast, complex, and time-sensitive.

Going by the stringent regulatory standards, pharmaceutical logistics is rising to the challenges by transporting a wide array of pharmaceuticals, requiring temperature-controlled transportation under proper cold chain management, he added.

Another trend shaping the pharma supply chain is automated packaging. Secure packaging protects the efficiency of the medicinal product and facilitates authentication. The process is strictly followed as increased numbers of vaccines, and other medications are being shipped worldwide. Technologies like Artificial intelligence is implemented by supply chains to analyze data and predict untoward disruptions, including natural calamities, increased demand, and trade disputes, he said.

In nearly every industry, there is an increasing shift to implement technology to respond quickly to market changes. For instance, 2020 was a year of unprecedented disruptions for the pharmaceutical supply chain sector. Global lockdowns brought countries to a virtual standstill, but medicines were supposed to be delivered to people in need. The supply chains worldwide managed to succeed with technology solutions to offset challenges like lack of visibility and logistics coordination, temperature excursions, real-time data collection, maintain compliance, and accurately forecast demand so that all pharma products are produced on time and successfully delivered, said the Shipyaari co-founder and COO.

The rapid growth of the pharma industry and the pressure to deliver sensitive medicines on-time by complying with a slew of stringent global regulatory requirements, saw the logistic sector pace up swiftly to support the impending demand. Supply chain companies optimize the movement of pharma shipments to ensure that orders were transported in a swift and reliable manner, he said. 

 In addition, the need to maintain the required temperature during storage and transportation, a complicated procedure of disposal of expired medicines, probability of theft, and many other aspects create a need for specialized software solutions.  Technologies like artificial intelligence can guarantee significant benefits for a pharmaceutical company that adopts a custom-made logistics system. Hence, moving forward, an agile pharmaceutical supply chain will be the key to creating a global trade network which is capable of weathering current and future disruptions, said Totla. Pharmabiz