Supply Chain & Sourcing

Supply chain plays a critical role in Pharmaceutical and Medical Devices world. The efficacy of drugs depends on the ability to deliver freshly produced products to patients. It requires a good understanding of customer demand and then proper planning of material, production, and shipment. In many countries, a portion of the supply chain is managed by third parties called distributors and 3PLs. Pharmaceutical and Medical Devices companies need to develop a partnership relationship with these outside providers to ensure hospitals and doctors are receiving products in a timely fashion. Supply Chain is a major contributor to cost and needs to manage transportation, handling and storage along with inventory management in a cost effective way. Countries where counterfeit and product tampering is an issue, supply chain plays a significant role in ensuring proper product custody throughout the delivery process.
Sourcing plays an important role in the acquisition of raw material, packaging material, and services. These contribute to a significant portion of the cost and sourcing is responsible for managing both cost and smooth supplies to support production and customer demand. Also, sourcing is responsible for supplier development and qualification of new materials needed to produce new drugs. Services procurement includes buying R&D, marketing, and contract manufacturing services from leading vendors in a cost effective way. Sourcing plays a major role in negotiating with suppliers and then day-to-day management of the relationship.