Supply Chain Planning in Pharmaceutical Industry
Supply chain planning has become a priority for most of the pharmaceutical companies. However, it is difficult to map which capabilities are required to solve specific supply chain planning challenges.
There are many reasons for such difficulties, including but not limited to long lead times, capacity constraints, various operating models, multiple regulatory requirements etc.
The goal of supply chain planning is coordinating assets to optimize the delivery of goods, services and information from supplier to end customer, balancing supply and manufacturing demand.
Material planning is an essential aspect of the supply chain planning process, and proper planning of materials would make high service levels, generate cost savings, and balance supply with demand.
A typical workflow for smooth supply chain plan
- Design a plan for smooth supply
- Implement the monthly plan cycle for smooth supply
- Embedding across 3-4 monthly planning cycles
To manage this complexity, pharma industry can use IT platform. Which will reduce the manual errors and improve process efficiencies. Companies should invest in robust infrastructure like ERP/SAP. Efficient capacity utilization plans and robust infrastructure investment decisions are important for managing the future regulatory pressures.
A successful supply chain plan cover a lot of core areas of a pharmaceutical industry including inventory management, new product development, capacity planning, plant design, logistics support etc.
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