To implement effective solutions to address serialisation, it is important to understand the true complexities of the product / supply chain mix. Many day-to-day realities of a modern pharmaceutical supply chain can present significant issues to serialisation implementation activities if not understood early.
Situations such as: local re-labelling and kitting activities; sale of product packs into one market which are designed and manufactured for another; locally driven cross-market supply; and multi-market presentations can all present significant challenges.
Also look for situations where your organisation is acting as a contract manufacturer for another company. In this type of situation, you will be faced with integrating your solutions into the serialisation model of your customer. This is an area where standards and solutions are not well developed in many instances.
Furthermore, the high cost of implementing serialisation capabilities means that it is sometimes appropriate to change the supply chain to reduce cost. This type of change often requires significant time to achieve and, in the case of such things as regulatory approvals, is not always within the control of the pharmaceutical company.
I hope you enjoyed this instalment on Things we wish we had known before starting a serialisation program or project. Please check back in next week for the continuation in this series.
Should you have any questions about this or any other of my blogs, or would simply like to request a copy of my booklets, please don’t hesitate to contact me at [email protected].
Available for request: