Track & Trace / Serialization: Beyond Compliance Benefits

Welcome once again to The Health Care Bear blog! This month I've been looking at the Track & Trace / Serialization market in Life Sciences. The most common and potent driver for adoption of T&T / Serialization is undoubtedly for regulatory compliance purposes. However, this is by no means the only benefit of this solution so today I'd like to take you through the various potential benefits of T&T / Serialization. If there are any I've missed then please feel free to comment below...

• Comply with regulations: OK, let's get this one out of the way! Regulations are constantly evolving all around the world and in Life Sciences, T&T can help comply with those such as the FDA mandate applicable to Manufacturers, Repackagers, Wholesale Distributors and Dispensers stating that product ownership cannot be accepted without transaction history and statements (either paper or electronic.) Unfortunately, as is this case with this one, they are frequently delayed or changed. Despite the compliance benefits of a T&T solution, the volatile nature of these regulations is pushing customers away from deploying this type of solution globally on an enterprise-wide basis. Regional vendors are making the most of this by concentrating on local regulations only whilst larger, global players face the stigma of being considered out of touch.
• Improve visibility: Serialization gives a client the ability for logistics transparency across the supply chain. Not only will this make reporting more accurate and efficient but it will also eliminate potential unseen issues such as theft. This will also enable the client to detect returns that were not originally sold to the customer to avoid fraudulent claims.
• Protect your brand: Once a client is able to identify and highlight illegal activities such as theft, counterfeiting and diversion; they can then take measures to combat this. In Life Sciences, drug quality is extremely important and so assuring that the intended product makes it all the way to the market without tampering will help protect the brand.
• Provide an integration platform: Deploying a solution which knits together other applications into an overall solution will have long term benefits. Especially given the current reluctance to deploy enterprise wide, global solutions; a serialization solution able to bring in outside components will be valuable when/if the regulatory landscapes in other regions settle down a bit.
• Control your inventory: This solution will enable the client to gain better insight into raw materials ordering. Using analytics in conjunction with T&T/Serialization will maximize storage space and streamline process scheduling.
• Improve workflow processes: The less physical handling is involved, the more productive the supply chain will be and so errors will decrease as the human element is minimized. As well as reducing errors, automation will also speed up the supply chain process considerably.
• Speed up the order-to-cash life cycle: Being able to definitively state where the goods have traveled and exactly when it was delivered and to whom will speed up the time it takes to authorize payment.
• Perfect order fulfillment: Serialization will help perfect order fulfillment by identifying incorrect orders and resolving them before delivery to the customer. This will directly impact a vendor's reputation and improve levels of customer satisfaction.
• Aid the returns process: Through reverse logistics, serialization will also help the recall, return and withdrawal processes as well as shrink/loss recovery. During the same process, the vendor will also be able to pinpoint the location and time where the issue occurred.
• Increase mobility: So your products are making their way through their life cycle, what's stopping you from moving with them? Mobile access to a track and trace solution will enable key members of your workforce to follow the product's journey whilst also on the move and if there is an issue, they are able to keep track of what's going on in real time and correct it on the go.

I'm sure I've only scratched the surface with these benefits so if you have any other suggestions of the potential benefits of a Track-and-Trace / Serialization solution, let me know down in the comment section below.

Best Regards,

Jonathan Cordwell
Research Analyst, Healthcare Strategy
ResearchNetwork, CSC