Blue Star Industrial Solutions, a division of Blue Star Engineering & Electronics, has forged a partnership with the Gebhardt Intralogistics Group, a German corporation. Blue Star Industrial Solutions specialises in quality testing and automation offerings and the collaboration with Gebhardt further strengthens its capabilities. Gebhardt offers automated picking, packaging, conveying and storage solutions, including mechatronics, controls and software systems.

Through this partnership, Blue Star will enhance its warehouse automation solutions capabilities in India. Simultaneously, Gebhardt will leverage this collaboration to expand its global presence, with a focus on emerging markets like India.

The demand for warehouse space in India is growing rapidly due to GST, the growth of the e-Commerce sector, and investments by PEs.  Grade A warehouses ideal for automation are becoming more common and the increasing scale of warehouse operations is driving demand for automated solutions that provide better inventory management and operational excellence. Warehouse Automation Solutions help manage growing SKU-mixes, deliver higher throughput, and better utilise vertical space to counter high rentals. They also adhere to export standards and reduce touch points (especially in the F&B and pharma sectors), improve productivity and optimise manpower requirement.

Blue Star Industrial Solutions offerings include automatic storage and retrieval systems, automated truck loading systems, conveying and palletising solutions, and packaging optimisation, complemented by tailored software designed for warehouse operations.

The alliance between Blue Star Industrial Solutions and Gebhardt Intralogistics Group will empower both organisations to seize the rising demand for advanced warehouse automation solutions and serve a broader customer base.

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UPS Healthcare has announced the expansion of its UPS Premier service to India to meet the evolving needs of critical time- and temperature-sensitive healthcare shipments. Indian customers will have access to UPS Premier Gold service benefits, including “first-in, first-off” prioritisation, built-in service recovery features within the UPS global network, and 24/7 control tower monitoring.

A company release informs that UPS Premier’s key benefits include:

• Timely delivery of critical healthcare products with a priority lane in UPS’s global network, powered by advanced sensor technology
• Meeting the complex logistics needs of pharma, medical device and laboratory testing that require visibility, traceability and integrity of supported products and materials
• 99 per cent on-time performance for global next-day deliveries of critical shipments

Kate Gutmann, EVP and President of UPS International, Healthcare and Supply Chain Solutions said, “Through this technology-enabled service, we will be able to classify and identify critical healthcare shipments before they leave our customers’ hands, offering them unprecedented control, visibility and reliability across their supply chain.”

John Bolla, UPS Healthcare President said, “UPS Premier provides the visibility and traceability that are essential to prioritizing the life-saving medications our customers ship and their customers need.”

UPS Premier Gold is also available in India offering the following benefits:

• Visibility is integrated within all UPS tracking systems.
• Real-time visibility, down to 1-2 meters within the network enabled by a mesh sensor that is affixed to the package alongside the address label.
• Support for critical healthcare packages including tissue samples, biopsies, implantable medical devices for scheduled surgeries, biologics, cell and gene therapies,bodily fluids, non-personalised specialty medications and surgical kits for inventory replenishment.

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ESG has been topping the pharma agenda for some time, but recently, there’s been a step change, with growing momentum.

Individual businesses are moving away from working in silos, adopting a collaborative approach, sharing insights and learnings to benefit from the whole pharma industry’s ESG credentials. Greater emphasis is also being placed on ESG in tender and investment decisions – a cause for optimism.

This new phase in pharma’s ESG journey is an opportunity for the sector to make new inroads towards more sustainable, inclusive and responsible practices. Just as ESG cannot be shouldered by one department in any business, meaningful change will be accelerated if organisations work together and exchange learnings.

Pharmanovia has long been committed to doing business responsibly. Back in 2021, we set out to formalise our approach to ESG and launched our first sustainability report last year. This included integrating our ESG strategy into our business strategy, applying greater rigor to how we measured our carbon footprint and setting science-backed stretch targets, challenging us to re-think how we do business.

One year on, our second report shares the results of novel pilot schemes and what we’ve learned so far.

Pharma must not neglect Scope 3 emissions

The pharma industry is not historically a strong performer in terms of sustainability. The sector is a bigger polluter than the automobile industry, estimated to directly generate about 52 mega tonne of CO₂ emissions. The operative word here is ‘directly’.

Indirect – Scope 3 – emissions from pharma’s value chains haven’t been factored into this figure and for a non-manufacturing company like Pharmanovia, these emissions account for a significant proportion of its carbon footprint.

To put this into context, Scope 3 emissions accounted for 99 per cent of Pharmanovia’s CO₂ emissions in 2022. Yet, a recent industry report found just 16 of the 500 pharma companies polled currently measure their entire Scope 3 emissions. Understanding your carbon footprint across the supply chain is the first step towards a more sustainable business, but many aren’t accounting for the indirect impact they are having in their measurements.

We believe it’s our responsibility to hold our partners to the high standards we expect of ourselves and to choose to work with responsible, value-aligned third parties. Continual monitoring of third-party progress and commitment to ESG initiatives, must form a significant pillar of pharma’s ESG strategy. Holding partners accountable for how they conduct business and helping those falling behind to develop plans for improvement, offers pharma an opportunity to influence meaningful change.

Innovation can lead to carbon, waste and cost reduction benefits

After measuring our Scope 3 emissions in 2021, we recognised that global transportation was having one of the biggest impacts on our carbon footprint, so we challenged ourselves with mapping out a pathway to manage these emissions.

Last year, we launched a pilot programme to understand the impact transitioning from air to sea freight could have, focussing on our Spain-to-Australia freight route.

The pilot successfully avoided an estimated 470,000kg in potential CO₂ emissions in 2022, equating to an 18 per cent reduction in our Scope 3 upstream transport emissions.

The innovative pilot not only delivered benefits in terms of carbon, but in waste and cost reduction, too.

Air freight is reportedly responsible for up to 80 per cent of all temperature excursions in the pharma industry, requiring medicines to be destroyed. During our pilot, no sea shipments experienced temperature excursions, thus reducing waste.

The transition also presented the opportunity for us to re-evaluate the expiry period of our medicines. Following testing, we were able to successfully increase the shelf-life of some products, once again mitigating and reducing waste, all while continuing to serve patients around the world.

We have now made a landmark pledge to divert 40 per cent of our air shipments to sea in 2023, and 75 per cent by the end of 2028.

Employees have the power to drive change

Sustainability shouldn’t be something we just talk about but something that we do. According to the World Economic Forum employees play a vital role as advocates and enablers of ESG strategies.

To engage our people with our strategy, we wrote ESG goals into employees’annual performance objectives, with everyone across our global officestied to ESG targets. This was an important move to encourage proactivity and ensure a sustainable lens was applied to our day-to-day work.  We also have four employee groups designed to drive new initiatives in support of our ESG goals.

We can confidently say that we have seen first-hand how empowering employees can lead to great strides. Employees achieved a 98 per cent completion rate of compliance training, which included ESG modules.

It’s an approach that we will continue to adopt with new targets set for all employees each year.

The climate crisis is often badged as the challenge of our time and Pharmanovia has made rising to this challenge and sharing learnings its mission. The health of the planet is intrinsically linked to the health of its citizens, which is why baking ESG into every layer of our business is so important to us. 

The strategies we have piloted have yielded great success, defining novel paths towards a more sustainable sector. This is not box ticking exercise though and there’s far more to be done. In the spirit of striving for continual improvement, we now look forward to new ambitious targets and working with our partners to deliver a healthier planet.

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Akums has announced a central warehousing pilot project, located in the SIDCUL Industrial Estate, Haridwar.

Speaking at a media gathering, Sandeep Jain, MD, and Co-Founder of Akums, emphasised the need for advanced warehousing infrastructure and related services. He said that while the core focus of manufacturing businesses is customising and manufacturing finished goods according to clients’ needs, addressing the challenges of handling, storing, and moving these goods is equally crucial. He added that traditionally, factories have prioritised expanding their core production areas, neglecting the optimisation of finished goods storage space. Acknowledging this gap, Akums’ senior management has dedicated substantial time to address storage challenges and develop in-house expertise.

“We recognised the inherent challenges associated with warehousing infrastructure and related services,” said Jain. He added. “To address these challenges, we are evolving an effective, state-of-the-art automated warehousing infrastructure and related services in a new 70,186.56 sq mt campus located on the main arterial road in the SIDCUL industrial estate. This facility will cater to finished goods storage, handling and out services, with trained stores and logistics personnel to support our various plants in and around Haridwar.”

The first phase of the project comprises a built-up area of 30,610.2 sq. mtr., including a ground coverage of 28,215.61 sq. mtr., with 17 standalone blocks dedicated to pharma finished goods storage.

A company release stated, “Akums is proud to embark on this groundbreaking central warehousing pilot project, to enhance operational efficiency and meet the evolving demands of the pharma industry. This initiative reflects Akums’ unwavering commitment to innovation and the continuous improvement of its services.”

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The pharma industry is one of the critical pillars of India’s economy, and supply chain is what gives it enduring strength. For the longest time, however, the pharma supply chain was unorganised. This is changing now, with the entry of big players and retail giants. We are also seeing a shift away from the old ways when patients used to go to pharmacists to pick up the medicines they needed. Today the pharma, healthcare, and retail industries offer not just products, but personalised experiences and value-added services to patients. Products are delivered to people’s doorsteps in record time, that too with discounts and offers.

India is the world’s third largest producer of pharma products and has earned the sobriquet of “the pharmacy to the world”. Indian pharma companies have a substantial share in the prescription market in the US and the EU. India also has the largest number of FDA-approved plants outside the US.

To continue driving growth for the industry, we need modern, smart supply chains that are compliant with both domestic and international regulations; follow robust standard operating procedures; have multimodal capabilities across air, land, and water; provide end-to-end visibility and control; and use the latest technologies for competitive advantage. Let us examine some of the recent developments and emerging trends on the policy, consumer, and technology fronts that are shaping the evolution of India’s pharma supply chain.

Policy-aided modernisation and growth
The supply chain in post-Covid times is being shaped, in part, by government policies. In September 2022, the Central Government announced the National Logistics Policy with the objective of lowering the cost of logistics, increasing the competitiveness of Indian products in domestic and international markets, and improving the efficiency of industries. India’s pharma MSMEs will benefit from the reduction in logistics costs. The establishment of multi-modal logistics parks, as proposed in the policy, will improve last-mile connectivity, and strengthen the cold storage and warehousing infrastructure across the country. It will also allow for inventory buffers, thus lessening our dependence on other countries for raw materials.

In the pharma supply chain, products are usually sent to C&F agents, then to city-level distributors, and ultimately to retailers. Since much of this happens at a local level, it can cause compliance issues, especially when it concerns medicines that need to be transported and stored at specific temperatures. This is because, in India, temperatures can vary widely across states, and even within cities in the same state. The newly proposed storage and warehousing policies will guide the ongoing efforts of pharma and logistics companies in addressing such issues by increasing the accessibility of the cold chain infrastructure and enhancing the connectivity to the storage areas through multimodal connectivity.

Building robust cold chain and reverse logistics capabilities
Cold chain is one of the toughest aspects of logistics to get right, and the demand for it is on the rise. Pharma and healthcare companies often ship products like vaccines, blood products, and medicines, which need to be maintained at certain temperatures to preserve their potency and validity. This can be achieved through temperature-controlled warehousing and transportation, with IoT sensors to continuously monitor the temperature. Furthermore, cold chain systems must have inbuilt protocols for mitigating risk and loss, and strong capabilities for dealing with contingencies.

Reverse logistics capability is yet another crucial aspect of pharma supply chain. There could be times when certain products need to be withdrawn from the market. This entails picking up the product from every nook and corner of the country and bringing it to the company’s warehouses or to their country of origin. There’s a need for more investments in setting up dedicated centres that perform quality checks, re-labelling, and dispatch of the returned products to the warehouses. Technology will help in developing a robust control environment to prevent fraud and tampering in both forward and reverse logistics.

The role of Blockchain
Spurious drugs are a serious issue across the world, but a technology-enabled, transparent supply chain can help in addressing it. In Africa, improvements in pharma supply chain have reduced the prevalence of spurious and failed drugs from almost 45 per cent to less than 10 per cent in the past 10-15 years.

Supply chain visibility, speed and coordination are critical to the safe and timely delivery of pharma products, and Blockchain technology can be of great help in several areas. These include monitoring the cold chain; identifying contamination of high-value, temperature-sensitive products; ensuring the authenticity of products; improving time and cost efficiencies; addressing regulatory requirements for drug tracking, and more. Blockchain can help in accurately recording price, date, location, quality, certification, and other relevant information. This improves supply chain transparency and traceability and reduces administrative costs. Blockchain can help pharma companies build trust and optimise the value chain through secure and tamper-evident data-sharing; product provenance; and digital asset tracking. Blockchain technology can give a clear picture of every capsule, every drop of a product from the manufacturer to the consumer, and nobody can manipulate the data.

Predictive supply chain with Big Data, AI, and ML
Pharma businesses that invest in Big Data Analytics, or work with logistics partners who do so, gain a great competitive advantage, as they can make more informed decisions, optimise capacity utilisation, reduce risk, and improve customer experiences. Dynamic, real-time route optimisation through the correlation of multiple data streams (such as shipments, weather, and traffic) can enable more efficient scheduling of consignments, optimisation of load sequences, and accurately predict the time of arrival. Smarter forecasting of demand, capacity, and labour can significantly optimise planning and resource utilisation and reduce supply chain costs. Big Data can be used to mitigate risks by detecting, evaluating, and providing alerts on potential disruptions caused by unexpected events, man-made or natural. This can be further enhanced with the integration of data from IoT devices.

Big Data, together with Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML), can also help pharma companies predict prescription trends and align their operations accordingly, well in advance. Geography-based market trends, customer behaviours, and healthcare trends can be used to predict orders. For instance, Rajasthan might have higher prevalence of a different set of illnesses as compared to Karnataka. The demand for medicines will accordingly differ. By studying the demand data, AI will be able to predict the prescription trends, and enable pharma companies and retailers to be ready with adequate quantities of the required products at the distribution centres that are closest to the most likely customers. This can help pharma retailers to meet heavy demand and offer quick home deliveries.

With pharma industry accelerating its digital transformation journey, the supply chain services providers have also increased their focus on driving innovations backed by data to strengthen the pharma and medical logistics. For instance, DP World’s production management and business intelligence tools provide enhanced visibility and control across the supply chain, thereby supporting optimum decision making. Furthermore, company’s suite of digital technologies is helping our customers identify bottlenecks in their supply chains and smooth the flow of medical supplies across borders.

Looking ahead
The era of the metaverse is dawning, and although it’s still early days, we can expect the metaverse to find a wide range of use cases that enable pharma companies to improve their experiential offerings. The metaverse will also play a vital role in applications such as simulating terminal operations; carrying out container and vessel inspections; conducting immersive, online safety trainings; and creating Digital Twins where a virtual representation of real-world processes is created, which can help in addressing industrial and supply chain challenges and achieving substantial time and cost savings.

Metaverse can help a single operator monitor terminals from different parts of the world in real time through virtual reality. It can also enable pharma companies to virtually check out the facilities and capabilities of prospective logistics partners. From a user benefit standpoint, Metaverse can be used to demonstrate the correct way of administering a certain medicine.

In coming years, we could see specialisations emerging within the pharma supply chain. Clinical trials, for instance, require a specialised supply chain because the samples are highly sensitive and need careful management and handling.

Meanwhile, as the costs and complexities of healthcare and pharma logistics continue to rise, pharma companies need logistics partners who can mitigate any adverse impacts on their business and on patients. The ability to leverage relationships, network, experience and skills is crucial to ensure that access to quality healthcare remains equitable across the globe.

Partnering with logistics providers can yield significant benefits for pharma companies on both the business and the consumer health fronts. With the health of millions of humans at stake, there is no room for compromise or laxity.

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As of 2021, 27 per cent of drug shortages in the US are due to supply chain issues. As pharmaceutical supply chains reel under the expectations and pressure of the pandemic, drug shortages have skyrocketed over the past couple of years. In fact, according to a study by McKinsey, 90 per cent of pharma companies have experienced at least one supply chain disruption in the past year. 

The pharma supply chain is quite complex with several stakeholders including manufacturers, wholesale distributors, and PBMs. Considering multiple bottlenecks like logistics, regulations, and distribution now is the time to redesign pharmaceutical supply chains so they can mitigate risk and deliver life-saving healthcare in an efficient manner.

Challenges before the pharma industry

From supply chain visibility to drug counterfeiting and cold-chain shipping to rising prescription costs, the pharma supply chain must constantly work to overcome numerous hurdles. Following are some of the most significant challenges that this industry faces: 

Regional dependencies: Traditionally, most pharma products have been sourced from a single region. Around 40 per cent of pharma trade occurs within a particular region. For example, 86 per cent of the streptomycin found in North America is produced in China. When faced with a critical event like COVID-19, this dependency on one region can prove disastrous for pharma companies and public health. 

Regulations complexity: Pharma industry is heavily regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the US. In Europe, it’s the European Medical Agency (EMA). The Drug Quality and Security Act (DQSA) by FDA outlines a challenging process of implementing an electronic tracing system at the package level. While these regulations are essential to identify potential counterfeit drugs that could harm consumers, they place additional requirements on pharma companies. Thus, further adding to the complexity of the industry and regulations.

Tracking shipment condition: FDA track and trace law mandates specific shipment conditions, especially when keeping their products in a specific temperature range. 

Transportation management: With high demand and a limited supply of carriers, their rates have gone through the roof. Frequent delays and cancellations add to the pressure pharma companies are under.

In light of these challenges, it’s more important than ever for industry leaders to take proactive steps to strengthen their supply chains and ensure the continuity of operations.

The good news is industry leaders, and governments have recognised that the problem is real. Governments also recognise the pharma industry as a means to strengthen national security. How do we address these challenges? Here are some ways the pharma industry can bolster its operations and become more resilient.

Promoting end-to-end transparency

Pharma companies need visibility into the business practices of their suppliers and suppliers’ suppliers to avoid major risks, as major consumer brands have been accused of unfair labour practices when overseas suppliers have been found to use child labour.

Mapping suppliers by tier is essential for a completely visible supply chain and for identifying potential vulnerabilities.

Also, a company needs a clear understanding of exposures beyond this, such as how products are developed, delivered, and stored – each stage poses its own problems that must be considered.

To make the supply chain more transparent, some pharma organisations, for example, are utilising AI-driven root-cause detection to improve quality performance. Others have established reliability rooms to track performance and risk metrics throughout their end-to-end networks in near real-time to discover and rectify problems before they create disruptions.

Routine stress testing and reassessment

Companies frequently utilise scenario planning and simulation models to predict vulnerabilities, quantify potential consequences, and minimise the repercussions. During the COVID-19 pandemic, for example, businesses employed a digital-twin simulation. It evaluated the impact of production slowdowns and shutdowns on patient drug supply. This assisted the firm in realising that it had more time than expected to create and implement safer working methods in its production plants. Thus, it could take more time to research and find the best solutions. 

Reduced exposure to shocks

Businesses around the world are recognising the importance of supply-chain risk diversification. By diversifying where they buy materials, companies can reduce their exposure to single sources and other risks. Fortunately, reducing that risk doesn’t require limiting yourself to just domestic production — nearshoring and offshoring also offer viable solutions. According to a McKinsey study, of all pharmaceuticals purchased on the international market, 38-60 per cent could be possible candidates for nearshore and offshore sourcing diversification strategies. This amounts to $236 – $377 billion across the industry.

Digital transformation through AI and ML

Artificial Intelligence is revolutionising the pharma industry, allowing companies to leverage machine learning in previously impossible ways. Along with machine learning and deep learning, AI is being applied to enable efficient drug development, supply chain optimisation, improved cybersecurity, PV initiatives and more. 

Leading pharma companies such as Johnson & Johnson, Bristol-Myers Squibb, AbbVie, AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Roche, Merck, GSK and Sanofi are leveraging AI technology to stay ahead of the curve and gain a competitive edge.

Predictive maintenance and process analytical technologies are also used to increase yield and throughput without fear of failure, leading to a more saleable product. According to McKinsey, predictive analytics shows an estimated 70 per cent improvement in overall equipment effectiveness. 

Putting supply chain resilience on the executive agenda

Supply-chain risk and resilience should always be top of mind in a company’s strategic planning and execution. It’s important to keep supply chain resilience embedded in existing forums and talking points to ensure everyone is aware of potential risks. 

To that end, Moglix has observed that companies which create a risk committee can react to potential risks much better. These committees comprise a subset of operational leaders and risk experts to ensure that issues are managed at the right level and at the right time.

The way forward

The way forward for pharma supply chains is clear: greater collaboration and cooperation between pharma and its stakeholders along with the right technological interventions. The fully globalised supply model will be transformed into a hybrid, balanced more strategically across global, regional, and local sites. 

This hybrid model, combined with other resilience-boosting measures, will make future supply chains more expensive, at least until the introduction of newer enabling technologies. However, the benefits of a more resilient and adaptable supply chain will far outweigh the costs. 

By working together, pharma companies and their partners can ensure the continuity of operations and, ultimately, the delivery of life-saving medicines to patients in need. The future of pharma supply chains is one of collaboration and innovation. Let’s pave the way towards it.

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Almost three years after the COVID pandemic put the world into lock down, we are still not yet free of COVID-19. In fact, we now have steadily increasing cases of monkeypox, which was previously confined to endemic regions.

Are we better prepared for the next health threat? Have we plugged the gaps to respond faster? Let’s not forget the many obstacles in this path.

For one, analysts point out that India Pharma Inc is still heavily dependent on imports for key raw materials. More than 70 per cent of its raw material requirements and in the case of certain drugs, more than 90 per cent are imported. Nearly 70 per cent of APIs are imported from China, and the cost has reportedly jumped by orders of magnitude, thanks to geo-political concerns. This has impacted the margins of pharma drugs.

While higher raw material, freight costs as well as pricing pressures in the US business due to high channel inventory will continue to drag overall performance for the pharma sector, how will the first two challenges hamper the development of medicines and diagnostics for future health threats?

Corporate boardrooms have been in re-set mode to prepare themselves for this scenario, incorporating the hard lessons of the COVID pandemic into business-as-usual practices. This exercise has been enriched with direct feedback from cross-functional heads who were never part of boardroom discussions in the pre-pandemic era.

This is vital because some vital benchmarks have not yet – and probably will not – revert back to pre-pandemic times.

Express Pharma, as part of SAP India’s Industry Knowledge Exchange (IKEX) Series, in partnership with the Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA), has culled some of these insights over a series of interactions. In May, we met up with CFOs, IT heads and CRAMS leaders for an overview of how collaborations and technology are driving business innovation in the lifesciences sector. (https://www.expresspharma.in/collaboration-tech-driving-business-innovation-in-life-sciencessector/).

And, in July, we got pharma procurement leaders, along with IT and operational leaders, to decipher their game plans on the procurement and SCM side. While the SAP team gave an overview of how pharma companies can transform their organisations into intelligent enterprise by achieving value with intelligent ERP systems, pharma leaders spoke of transformations within their organisations to cope with disruptions in the pharma supply chain.

Harking back to the total disruption of pharma procurement during the early stages of the pandemic, Sapna Sharma, Director, Procurement, Category Head for API, Excipients and Respiratory, Cipla, said creating alternatives for suppliers topped the list of her company’s learnings. “We have to be proactive, not reactive about creating alternatives for suppliers, especially those where we could predict we might have a problem. Cipla had started on this process a couple of years back. So, during the pandemic, we were able to move to alternative suppliers very fast as we already had them in place.”

This process actually started way back in 2008, when China shut down many chemical and API manufacturing units before the Beijing Olympics. That was the pharma, and other sectors, first
warning of supply chain shocks due to heavy dependence on imports.

But, even though this might seem like a logical thing to do, there was a lot of push back within companies, because as Sharma pointed out, it is a laborious process. For instance, one API might go into multiple SKUs. Sharma says it took some time to create a mindset that alternative suppliers were
necessary. Cipla also created a plan to shift not just to alternative vendors, but alternate sites of existing vendors. As part of this initiative, Cipla also started educating their vendors, so that they were in line with the company’s overall strategy.

Sharma also spoke about putting better inventory management systems into place at both Cipla and their vendors, by implementing supplier scorecards to identify their strategic partners. Cipla stopped spot buying, and put in place strategic partners for key inputs that led to better forecasting, negotiating better rates considering the volume consolidation.

Logistics lock down
While procurement heads were setting right their house, their peers in logistics, the next step in the supply chain, found that there was no going back to pre-pandemic times. As Pratyush Kumar, General Manager, Demand Planning and Logistics Excellence, Glenmark Pharma, detailed, each shipping container, which used to cost $2500 pre-pandemic, today quotes at a whopping $12000. There is no way pharma companies can add this cost increase to the price of the output goods (medicines), as the markets are extremely competitive and price-sensitive.

Glenmark used this opportunity to make transportation more cost effective through various measures. Giving a small example, he described how they reduced the huge difference between the gross weight and the volume weight in air freight as pallets were not being utilised optimally. When prices increased, Kumar recounted how even this small opportunity was used to put more packs per pallet.

A second major realisation was that while inventory used to be considered a cost, the pandemic proved that freight is the real higher cost. Glenmark decided to increase inventory levels in order to reduce air freight costs and ship more products by sea rather than air. But shipping by sea came with its own drawbacks. The US-India shipments, which used to take 22-25 days, were now taking up to 45 days. To cope with the decreasing reliability and visibility of sea freight, Glenmark installed IOT enabled data loggers in all consignments to get real-time visibility. This enabled the company to make decisions in real-time to reroute to the final destination to make up for some of the delays. Pratyush Kumar also explained how forecasting technology had helped them prepare better and save costs.

The new definition of BC-AD
In spite of these strategies, it’s a different reality today. As Vickram Srivastava, Head of Planning, Global Supply Chain, Sun Pharma, points out, “Disruption is part of the new normal and the new business paradigm. This is part of the new Gregorian calendar, Before Corona (BC) and AD (After Disease). And it’s not yet clear that we are in the AD phase as yet.”

Srivastava points out that our dependence on imports from China has increased multi-folds over the last two decades and cannot be replaced easily. To his mind, the difference has come from a sustained effort by China’s policies to encourage the chemical/pharma sector.

Also, he mentions that the focus has to be to invest in new complex products and getting it right the first time in addition to de-risking the current supply chain for business continuity. Using digital technology to understand market trends and demand from the sales and marketing field force directly to the upstream vendor supply chain would be the real game changer.

Shortages of certain vital materials like filters persist even post the pandemic. So, it’s no longer about Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) but Business Continuity Plans (BCP), which is not just about
putting in place alternate vendors, but about end-to-end mapping of value chain to ensure undisrupted supply of critical life-saving drugs. Especially as most pharma companies in India are now dealing with complex and niche generics, where not many alternative vendors may be available, which is why Srivastava feels that pharma companies need to see their vendors as long-term collaborators, going beyond cooperation.

Mindset change
The search for alternate vendors needed procurement and technical teams to work together as alternate vendors needed to be validated before being onboarded. And, in some cases, the lack of time forced companies to repurpose the existing stocks.

For instance, Dr Aravind Badiger, Technical Director, BDR Pharma, recalled how the increase in cases of the rare fungal infection, termed ‘black fungus’ called for huge quantities of liposomal Amphotericin B. However, shortages of filters and lipids was one of the reasons why initially production could not ramp up in time.

BDR Pharma probably had the largest batch size of 30,000 vials, but no filters. The company finally used filters that their QA team was using after due sterilisation and tests. They had to educate the procurement team to consider other alternative sources after scientific due process was followed, and then convinced them to use other products.

However, taking Srivastava’s point that procurement challenges extend beyond the pandemic, Dr Badiger points out that the US FDA approves about 52 products a year, approximately one product a week. He observes that demand always overshoots supply after generic approvals and that causes volatility in prices, which is why procurement is the nerve centre that should be connected to all key departments. Sharing of information among all departments can make procurement practices smoother and avoid panic and chaos, pandemic or not, avers Dr Badiger.

China Plus One strategy
It is supply chain shocks like these that made API manufacturers like Hikal take proactive measures to build a China Plus One strategy. For Mahendra Maske, AGM, Demand and Supply Planning, Hikal, this meant buying more and building up the inventory. “Safety stock norms, which were reviewed every quarter, were now reviewed more frequently, based on market needs and demands. We reduced our dependence on China and developed multiple alternate vendors from other countries and within India as well. We also diversified our product portfolio, so that we were not dependent on any one product.”

As Shrikant Gade, VP, Sourcing and Procurement, FDC, puts it, “It’s not that we weren’t thinking about procurement developing alternate vendors, moving from manual to hybrid to digital systems, etc before the pandemic. The pandemic changed our approach and forced us to think differently and out-of-the-box. It forced us to intensify our efforts to forecast better. Though the government introduced the PLI scheme, implementation will take time. Everyone is in the same boat: we are dependent on China for 70-80 per cent of input materials, which is using high freight and material costs to arm twist us.” He too agreed that these rates will remain 30-40 per cent higher than pre-pandemic times.

Sachin Ghosalkar, Sr Vice President, Operations, Indoco Remedies, re-emphasised the strategic collaborations that were forged during the pandemic with suppliers like Hikal. “Everyone now realises that their suppliers have to be in their backyard. Or they have pushed their suppliers to move closer to them.” Escalations in freight rates is a post-pandemic phenomenon, according to him, with profit margins of logistics companies going from four-five per cent pre-pandemic to up to 20 per cent post-pandemic.

The case for digitisation?
Swapnil Rajepawar, IT & Digital Project, Procurement Head, ACG Worldwide, narrated how the pandemic was the biggest opportunity for the IT departments of companies to emphasise the benefits of digitalisation. He observes that companies are now more willing to spend on digital technologies.

While many pharma companies have gradually moved certain systems like artworks, invoicing etc to the digital medium even before the pandemic as part of the digitisation process, there are many speed-breakers to digital transformation.

For instance, Venkat Srinivas, CIO, RA, Chem Pharma, underlined the concern about making a business case to sell digitisation within his organisation. In a similar vein, Himal Desai, VP, Supply Chain, Virchow Biotech, expressed concerns on the varying quality of digitisation implementation partners. Secondly, there should be digital solutions for smaller companies as well. While he taught himself coding and developed solutions for his company’s needs, all MSME companies might not have access to coding skills.

New faces in the pharma boardroom…

Once the hallowed space reserved for promoters and finance heads, pharma’s top table expanded considerably during the pandemic. Dr Rami Reddy, VP, Purchase, Hetero Labs, recounts how purchase heads became part of boardroom discussions during the pandemic as the thought process of most top management of pharma companies changed during the last two-and-a-half years.

As he had straddled both IT and supply chain in his previous roles and in his current role in IT&IS, M Prabhakar Rao, AVP, IT&IS, Natco, pointed out that every node in the supply chain is very important and the pandemic bought supply chain and IT heads into the boardroom. Cost consciousness has crept into all functions. The result is that it’s not just smart buyers, but all smart suppliers, where everyone does their homework and preparation before they come to the negotiation table during the procurement process, avers M Prabhakar Rao.

…bode well for pharma bottom line
The new faces in the pharma boardroom have already added value. PV Raju, Sr Vice President, SCM, Biological E, quotes from a BCG report, according to which, companies which involve their Chief Procurement Officers in the strategic decision making process, have 130 per cent more growth. He also stresses that decisions regarding purchase, sales, should be taken in consultation with procurement heads which will lead to huge savings.

Jagannatha Reddy, Sr VP, Head, SCM, Viyash Life Sciences, too agreed that today, procurement leaders are no longer clerks. They are expected to know the chemistry, route of synthesis, etc as different categories have different challenges. They are more visible and are invited to boardroom meets as they are expected to add value to the discussions. They are given the prerequisite inputs and are free to come up with their own strategies, recounts Reddy.

Raju narrated how technology platforms are helping suppliers/vendors negotiate among themselves and come to clients with a final price, rather than pharma procurement teams negotiating with each vendor. Such sourcing strategies impact not just the price, but the total cost of ownership, according to Raju.

Bringing in new perspectives

Many industry experts point out that there is no going back to pre-COVID times. Avinash Kumar Talwar, VP, MRO and Packaging, Material Sourcing (Strategic and Plant), Global Supply Chain Management, Dr Reddy’s, recounts how lead times have expanded from one-to-three months to nine-12 months. For example, filter manufacturers still have a lead time of one year for filters. Similarly, imported aluminium used in packaging material, has a lead time of eight-to-nine months minimum. It’s the same story with rubber stoppers.

Talwar believes that these challenges can be solved by thinking differently. Firstly, indigenisation will help reduce costs. For instance, having India-based makers of rubber stoppers and filters reduces costs by 30 to 40 per cent. Towards this end, he reveals that Dr Reddy’s has started hand-holding Indian partners, like investing in some API companies and backing packaging material makers.

Speaking about Dr Reddy’s initiatives to improve ease of doing business, Talwar also narrated how Dr Reddy’s had built a digitally-enabled common platform for their partners called Vikreta Connect (i.e. Digital P2P – Procurement to Pay process). According to him, Dr Reddy’s became the pioneer pharma company to switch to paperless transactions through introduction of digital invoice processing. The introduction of “Digitally Signed Invoice Upload” helps the company to honour timely payments and the introduction of “mobile app” will help business partners to view/receive/acknowledge PO’s, check ASN status, payment status of all invoices on a real-time basis.

Agreeing with Talwar’s suggestion for indigenisation, Atul Shastri, President, Operations, Eugia Pharma, points out that if India could master the art of making quality generic medicines, why can’t we master the art of making quality filters? Especially as rubber stoppers and filters are still in short supply.

Long-term contracts are also a good practice, says Talwar and suggests that the pharma sector should have an Amazon-like marketplace, where members get better prices and delivery on products ranging from APIs, packaging materials etc. Common vendor audits are also a good way to share resources.

Adding his perspective from the operations side, Shastri narrated how resources like nitrogen cylinders, etc which were always taken for granted, suddenly reduced drastically during the pandemic as all gas storage cylinders were diverted to supply oxygen to hospitals. The result was a shortage of nitrogen cylinders, which are central for the production processes of many pharma products from filling injectables, etc. Similarly, isopropyl alcohol is generally abundantly available, but during the pandemic, all of it was diverted for making hand-sanitising solutions and it was in short supply for other uses. Shastri concludes, “Leveraging technology to anticipate unpredictable shortages, so that a plan B or C can be developed and deployed before a crisis, is the need of the industry.”

Learning from other sectors

Drawing on his experience in the aviation defence and auto sectors, Reddy of Viyash Life Sciences spoke about the need for similar vendor development programmes in the pharma sector. 2022 has been a year of great disruption for pharma supply chains, with end-to-end visibility, which, according to him, has improved the credibility of supply chain professionals as well.

But Reddy cautioned that there are still challenges and gaps in the pharma supply chain, which benefit pharma giants. Therefore, he posits that making a supply chain as fool-proof as possible, with all the uncertainties, calls for creativity from supply chain leaders.

“Building a proactive supply chain is today’s need and challenge. Today, the challenge of SCM leaders is to balance their time and technology, to form a good strategy to bring success and value to the company. Past supply chain systems were more stable, but today’s supply chains are more dynamic for a variety of reasons. Today’s supply chain should be owned by stakeholders across the organisation, not just the supply chain leaders, so that it is not a blame game,” says Reddy.

Vishnu Rayapeddi, Head, Supply Chain Management, Indian Immunologicals, spoke of how the pandemic proved that change is the only constant. Just as we got used to using masks, procurement teams now have weekly reviews. He also spoke of the hard learnings of the pandemic. Indian Immunologicals supplied the raw products for the Covaxin vaccine to Bharat Biotech in large quantities in a very short period of time. But, now, the company is left with huge stocks of consumables and some raw materials as demand dried up in March this year. “We were left with excess stocks of filters, but we could not pass them on to other companies who needed them. The lessons from the pandemic, like the formation of e-commerce platforms for finished goods, need to be taken forward.”

In retrospective, Chandan Shirbhayye, AVP and Head, Supply Chain, Aragen Life Sciences, believes that the silver lining in the COVID cloud was that the SCM community came closer. “Competitors shared the best practices and even collaborated on various instances to mitigate the impacts of the pandemic. We are still dependent in a big way on imports, and the need is to bring down dependency, and improve capability in India.”

While he highlighted that the SCM function is the data custodian of the organisation, he pointed out that there is an urgent need to create a solution for uniform material master data management which is the foundation to have effective technology implementation and data analytics. For instance, there are multiple technology solutions available, and there is a need for a solution to integrate and avoid creation of duplicate data. Avoiding duplicate Master Data creation is one basic requirement which needs immediate solution.

Shirbhayye also highlighted that India has huge potential in the pharma space, and the industry will have to take the lead and partner with the Government in ensuring that we convert this opportunity into economic growth. According to him, we need to continue to drive improvements in two areas which will help India to gain the logistics/supply chain leadership, globally.

Firstly, upgradation of infrastructure (power, logistics, connectivity, etc), including digital infrastructure across India to have uniform growth opportunities. Encouraging faster logistics both inland and outbound is the need of the hour to make Indian industry competitive with global players. And, secondly, Shirbhayye opines that we need simplification, rationalisation and integration of compliances among various statutory and regulatory bodies of states and ministries using the digital platform for seamless and transparent execution. His rationale is that many procedures can be simplified by better coordination among various statutory bodies.

Sudarshan Jain, Secretary General, Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA), highlighted that adversity brings the best in any situation. The pandemic brought uncertainty on both the demand and supply sides, which had never happened before in the world. Pre-pandemic, pharma companies set their manufacturing schedules based on quarterly demand forecasts from the sales and marketing teams, based on market trends. But the pandemic changed all that as one never knew which way the virus was going.

He summarised five key learnings from the pandemic (see box) and also quoted from IIM Ahmedabad Professor Tambe’s book, Age of the Pandemic, which makes the point that while the world learns from war history, we don’t learn from pandemics of the past. He highlighted that learnings from pandemics should be recorded and leveraged to strengthen pandemic prevention, preparedness and response for the future. His strong advice is that we have to learn from the pandemic and change our strategies as far as organisation dynamics and economics are concerned.

Tech as a lever

Technology solutions do exist and many companies like SAP are collaborating with pharma companies to scale up faster by expanding their solution platforms and business network for collaboration between various stakeholders. The SAP team gave examples of how the SAP Business Network platform is helping buyers connect, collaborate and transact with suppliers in a transparent and efficient manner. The SAP Business Network has already clocked $189 billion worth of annual transactions for life sciences industry by connecting 169 customers in the industry with more than that 300000 life sciences suppliers. These members are exchanging 9.5Mn+ documents (PO and Invoices) on the Network.

They also pointed out that the push for digitisation has to come from the top management. Secondly, adaptability and simplification of the tools should be from bottom up. They believe that this will help the sector prepare for upcoming unexpected pandemics. SAP Business Network, formerly known to millions of companies around the world as Ariba Network, makes it easy for buyers and suppliers to collaborate on transactions, strengthen their relationships, and discover new business opportunities. Buyers can automate the entire procurement process from source to settle, while controlling spending, finding new sources of savings, and building a healthy, ethical supply chain. In turn, suppliers can help buyers achieve their procurement transformation goals, collaborating in the cloud to boost customer satisfaction, simplify the sales cycle, and improve cash flow.

Policy push as a pivot
But even though many companies are already investing in such technologies, it will be a long an uphill task without the right policy push and a conducive ecosystem.

Industry leaders have concerns that with the slower than desired implementation of PLI schemes and other policy measures, pharma manufacturing in India might never be sustainable from a business ROI perspective. For instance, many companies investing in API manufacturing or fermentation plant infrastructure today under the PLI scheme might still find themselves undercut by and lagging Chinese products by the time their plants get into production mode.

The growing consensus is that policy makers should realise that the Indian pharma sector is one of the most competitive in the world. We have passed the age of price control and now the focus should be on quality, research. And companies investing in manufacturing infrastructure should get assurances of guaranteed local demand, like the Chinese government promoted manufacturers with a guarantee of local demand. The expanding list of medicines under the NLEM is sure to cause more heart burn, but this too can be balanced better.

The code word is collaboration between competitors, in a model called co-opetition, which evolved during the pandemic. A classic example is the fact that a consortia of big Indian pharma companies have collaborated to invest in DigiHealth Technologies, with the common goal of creating an IT backbone for a digital pharma supply chain and distribution network.

IPA’s Jain clarified that derisking pharma procurement practices did not mean making everything in India, following the Atmanirbhartha policy. This might not be economically feasible. It was about having the most cost-effective alternate suppliers for key products. So, a supplier in Europe could be an alternative to China. Similarly, on the fermentation front, China is the unsurpassed leader but that’s fine, because Indian pharma players will still find an alternative, till we have our own fermentation plants.

While these interactions show that most big pharma companies have taken the COVID lessons to heart and are proactively planning for disruptions like scarcity of key ingredients, consumables, etc, this transition remains a work in progress. In the coming months, Express Pharma, in partnership with IPA and SAP, will continue to meet more leaders to reflect how companies are transforming into more resilient corporations and to ensure this transition percolates into all segments of the sector.

viveka.r@expressindia.com
viveka.roy3@gmail.com

The post Re-setting the pharma procurement value chain appeared first on Express Pharma.

How does Merck Life Sciences’s recently-launched third plant in Patalganga meet the company’s business objectives in India, in terms of product portfolio?

Patalganga is a state-of-the- art distribution-cum-manufacturing facility spread over an area of approximately 40,000 sq mtr. We handle distribution of 2,00,000+ SKUs across India for multiple sectors such as pharma, diagnostics, academia, government institutions, chemical labs and chemical distributors. We also manufacture and down fill organic solids in various pack sizes for our domestic customers. The primary objective of introducing a new plant at Patalganga was to ensure that we meet our long- term customer strategy through improved fill rate and minimal supply disruptions. The site is 100 per cent compliant to National Building Code and amp; Merck EHS Standards, adherence to local regulations and licences.

Our warehouse automation systems and advance material handling equipment such as Very Narrow Aisle (VNA) equipment, flameproof stackers and battery-operated trucks help in safe, agile and seamless operations, thereby guaranteeing that 95 per cent of our orders are shipped out the same day. We have a stand-alone Petroleum Explosives Solvent Organization (PESO) building, which is licensed to store 500 KL flammable liquids, and is 10 times our previous warehouse capacity. A robust automated temperature monitoring system ensures that a wide range of products in the category of two to eight degrees, 15 to 25 degrees, -20 degrees, -70 degrees and non-temperature material is stored in controlled environment, as per their label storage conditions.

What are the learnings from the pandemic, given the demand-supply disruptions, price escalation in input chemicals due to scarcity and increased demand, etc? What are the other challenges outlasting the pandemic, and what measures have been taken to ensure productivity is not impacted?

With tremendous opportunities for growth in emerging markets, many manufacturers follow a trend of aggressive globalisation and outsourcing strategies. There is growing reliability on third-party logistics service providers for manufacturing as well as distribution. The biggest learning from the pandemic is around agility and robustness of the supply chain. Those organisations, which were able to quickly respond to the changing demand and situation, got the maximum benefits. The need to be more technology-driven came out as stronger need than ever before as most life science industries are moving away from traditional technology-based solutions to digital solutions. The need of remapping the imported raw material supply network emerged more strongly because of geo-political scenario emerging in several geographies.

Lifescience supply chain challenges include inadequate visibility of product and services from an end-to-end supply chain network perspective to supply chain agility being limited due to long procurement/manufacturing lead times. Other key factors include specific mandates by regulatory bodies and insufficient technology initiatives. To manage this dynamic environment, lifescience industry would need more skilled workforce, which, currently, is a challenge.

Could you highlight the safety protocols and standards being maintained inside the plant?

Our Navi Mumbai Distribution Centre located at Patalganga boasts of a state-of-the-art warehouse including a PESO licensed class-III hazardous storage facility. Our EHS & legal compliance services cover Indian environmental & safety laws and Indian Factory Rules. Fire fighting system is designed as per NFPA standards and National Building Code 2004 & 2016. The prominent highlight of the site is the safety systems like fire detection, fire-hydrant, foam-based fire suppression system and in-rack sprinkler systems. The building infra has been designed as per the class of chemical stored in that area. The chemicals are stored as per the compatibility matrix to avoid any cross contamination or hazard.

Our safety protocols are designed as per global standards, which include employee and visitor entry/exit management, robust contractor management, work permit systems, lock-out tag-out system and daily toolbox talk before commencement of operations, are a few to mention.

What are the areas of the business showing the most growth potential? How will the newly started Patalganga plant add to the growth and revenue prospects of the company?

The pandemic has led to significant geo-economic and geopolitical shifts, with government driving self-sufficiency agenda and industries recalibrating their business models. Our warehouse at Patalganga is well-connected to all the pharma hubs in the country and proximity to port facilitates rapid and cost-efficient movement of goods. Lifescience is growing at an unprecedented rate across the globe. The DC caters to the needs of markets across APAC and South Africa, which have a good growth potential in this sector. Industries like biopharma, vaccine manufacturing, new molecule discovery organisation are the fastest growing segments in a post-COVID world.

The growth driven by vaccine and biosimilar customers has been powered by Patalganga warehouse. We could supply products from this warehouse to enable our customers to accelerate the development and production of COVID therapies during the difficult pandemic times in the last two years.

The warehouse is among the largest in the nation for the lifesciences sector. In order to serve Regional CFAs, direct customers and distributors across India, the warehouse operations manage approximately 200,000 SKUs. The warehouse stores these specialities and PESO chemicals to ensure faster deliveries to our customers, driving research and development activities across various industries, pharma, biotech, testing labs, CROs and academia.

The facility also has state-of-the-art facility to repackage high-grade solid chemicals and plans to have a quality check laboratory to ensure top-class chemicals are served to Merck’s customers.

The Indian pharmac industry is predicted to reach $100 billion in sales by 2025, according to a report by the India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF); so, we think India will need strong capabilities like Patalganga warehouse to support the country’s growth, which will undoubtedly boost Merck’s growth and revenue, too.

viveka.r@expressindia.com
viveka.roy3@gmail.com

The post The biggest learning from the pandemic is around agility and robustness of the supply chain appeared first on Express Pharma.

UPS Healthcare recently announced a market expansion and the next generation in the UPS Premier product line. The UPS Premier service portfolio provides three-level flexibility to meet healthcare customers’ unique needs, a company statement said.

UPS Premier monitors packages at all times, creating visibility and prioritisation for each shipment. In addition, sensor technology enables real-time recovery of UPS Premier shipments if they encounter network delays, temperature deviations, or other issues, the statement added.

It also said that UPS Premier Silver and Gold are now available in major markets around the world. UPS Premier Platinum adds the ability to monitor temperature, light and humidity while tracking shipments in and out of the UPS network. UPS Premier Platinum will be available this fall.

“The expansion and enhancement of UPS Premier supports the complex needs of our laboratory, medical and pharmaceutical customers around the world. Whether efficiently moving healthcare products between countries, maintaining negative 80-degree temperatures or locating life-saving shipments with precision, UPS Premier provides industry-leading visibility, control, reliability and recovery,” said Kate Gutmann, EVP and President International, Healthcare and Supply Chain Solutions, in the statement.

This service connects major global trade lanes, and is now expanding geographically. These new offerings provide customers even more benefits, including efficient customs brokerage, environmental monitoring and visibility to meet the challenges of global healthcare logistics leaders.

Innovations in biologics, specialty pharma and medications genetically personalised for each patient’s needs are driving significant demand for precision logistics to support more patient-critical, time and temperature-sensitive products, according to the statement.

UPS Healthcare has added these new UPS Premier capabilities to support the complex needs of this growing market,  the statement mentioned.

Upgrades and global expansion provide additional control, visibility, reliability and recovery for patient-critical, time-and temperature-sensitive products, the statement concluded.

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DB Schenker, the global leading logistics service provider, has appointed Kinjal Pande as the new CEO for India and the Indian Sub-Continent, effective immediately, a company statement said.

It also informed that Kinjal will succeed interim CEO Vivek Chopra, who stepped in for Vishal Sharma since his move to a new role in China. She brings a wide experience from other leading global forwarders in the logistics industry.

The new appointment is part of a recent leadership reorganisation to help the company strengthen its position in the Asia-Pacific region, the statement concluded.

Dr Niklas Wilmking, CEO, Asia-Pacific, said in the statement, “We are delighted to have a leader of Kinjal’s caliber take up the CEO position for DB Schenker in India. India is one of the key growth markets in the region and I am confident that Kinjal, who comes with a wealth of experience spanning various functions in the logistics industry, will be a great addition to the team.

Speaking on the appointment, Pande, said, “DB Schenker is one of the leading organisations in the logistics industry in India and globally, and I am honoured to be part of this company and aim to strengthen our position in the market further.”

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