Pharmaceutical Executive Europe - April 2008 - (Page 15) Pharmaceutical Executive Europe April 2008 Technology: Supply Chain 15 Globally agile enterprises possess five key characteristics: ● end-to-end visibility of the global supply chain ● constantly and efficiently executing global plans ● effectively integrated across functions and geographies ● understanding of local needs and regulations, and supporting these as extensions to the global supply chain model ● having the decision support and governance necessary for ongoing strategic planning. The supply chain is the cornerstone of a globally agile enterprise. Rather than looking to other industries for inspiration, companies should look within and analyse their own supply chain strengths and vulnerabilities to determine how to move forward with initiatives that streamline operations, cut costs and reduce risk across the entire value chain. This analysis should concentrate on five key parameters, listed below. Demand planning. Demand should be placed at the testing sites, in defined test periods, and this demand then aggregated regionally. It is this aggregated demand that should be used to forecast supplies rather than the demand from the manufacturing or trial sites. This approach allows for more distribution flexibility to meet required changes. The use of demand planning applications in clinical management can also greatly aid in the initial forecasting as well as the subsequent adjustments and distribution planning. In this way companies can increase their responsiveness to the supply of the studies and accelerate studies. Effective performance management. A consistent process to manage study performance means that accurate consolidated data is accessible to a variety of internal stakeholders. This accessibility can assist in ongoing optimisation of the clinical supply chain, tighter management of trials, hence faster time to market and lower trial costs. Reducing the environmental footprint. Life sciences companies are under increasing pressure to ‘go green.’ In Europe, especially, there is a push to reduce packaging, and make what needs to be used disposable and recyclable. There is strong compatibility between environmental and process efficiency goals — both reduce costs and save resources. In a green supply chain, the environmental impact is considered in both the planning and sourcing decisions, while continuing to reduce waste, inventory and minimise the consumption of non-renewable energy during manufacture. Conclusion With increased globalisation, pressures from poor pipeline performance and a more cost conscious climate, life sciences organisations need to look to the future and optimise their clinical supply chains. Only then will companies achieve their goals of reducing time to market, shortening study timelines and reducing R&D costs. To achieve this, companies should look within and analyse the clinical supply chain in the following key areas; demand planning, effective data management, integrating risk and operations modelling, compliant cross-border processes and reducing the environmental footprint. All of these are underpinned by consistent and robust global processes that will allow companies to reap the many benefits that accrue to the truly globally agile enterprise. ■ About the Authors Integrating risk and operations modelling. Risks exist throughout the supply chain, but these risks can only be proactively mitigated if they are identified and assessed. The agile organisation takes a centralised approach to risk across all the supply chain functions and proactively mitigates these risks by evaluating the risks and rewards associated with various scenarios. This can avoid costly issues and aid in fact-based decision making. Compliant cross-border processes. Although the multitude of individual country trade regulations are associated with added complexity and substantial compliance risk, organisations that have consistent, secure and compliant cross-border operations can also obtain benefits. Strategic use of clinical manufacturing locations to maximise the benefits of preferential trade agreements can provide operational cost efficiencies in addition to facilitating the smooth movement of products across borders. Rebecca Drinkwater is a senior consultant in the BearingPoint Life Sciences practice (UK). She has over 10 years’ experience both in the pharmaceutical industry and consultancy to the life sciences sector. Her expertise in life sciences is specifically in product development, supply chain, global trade management and change management. RS Kumar is senior manager in BearingPoint’s Life Sciences practice. He has over 24 years of work experience that includes 10 years of ERP business and compliance consulting , across pharmaceutical, biotech, medical devices and consumer goods industries.
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