Healthcarehas become one of the leading and largest sectors both
in terms of revenue and employment in India. With the healthcare market in
India expected to reach US$ 372 billion by 2022, healthcare logistics is a long way from being able to handle the
increased demand for proper storage,
transportation, traceability, and much more. Any pharma
logistics company needs to implement traceable, secure, and compliant
supply chains with end-to-end visibility.
Now, logistics accounts for a sizeable portion of healthcare
operations budget. But a few challenges faced by healthcare logistics service
are:
·
Lack of modern technology to forecast demand and supply
The healthcare industry is still dependent on traditional
statistical methods and outdated technology to forecast demand using relevant
data and customer insights, which leads to inefficient supply chain management.
Incorporating the use of smart technologies and tools in planning the optimal
supply chain is the need of the hour. This would ensure sufficient resources in
hand to meet urgent or last-minute demands.
·
Changing regulatory frameworks
The quality compliance, regulatory policies, and export
formalities are different across markets and are headed by different
authorities, leading to a lack of standardization globally. For dealing with
such challenges, there should be specific governing bodies that not only keep a
stringent check on quality, but also maintain complete clarity and transparency
across manufacturing, packaging practices, and transportation.
·
Need for improved supply chain infrastructure
The healthcare sector in India has to handle challenges like poor
road conditions, ill-equipped seaports and railways, and not fully utilized air
transport. Particularly in pharma, the lack of a robust cold chain network has
widened the gap in the healthcare supply chain. The current infrastructure
makes product visibility and tracking difficult, and companies are not able to
get the complete details and assurance on whether the products are stored or
transported in required conditions or not.
·
Lack of transparency and visibility
The supply chain in healthcare is complex and time-sensitive, as
it involves proper measures to be maintained along the entire supply chain
process. Any deviation from the measures would cause a threat to the life of
patients. But, with multiple stakeholders involved in the supply chain, the
visibility and traceability of the cargo becomes difficult to maintain, leading
to the loss of cargo or the cargo no longer remains usable. With the help of
the latest technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, and IoT, maintaining
communication and transparency is possible along the entire supply chain. It will also prevent the
distribution of counterfeit pharmaceuticals in the market.
India’s
pharmaceutical industry is the third-largest
in the world in terms of
volume and value chain. Safexpress, a leading tech-based logistics service
provider, with its multimodal network across India, specializes in express
distribution services of medicines and healthcare equipmentthat are time and
weather-sensitive. Safexpress is driven by tech-enabled operations that
channelize tracking of all shipments to maintain transparency of movement of the
cargo across the supply chain. They also provide logistics to deliver samples
to medical representatives across India as per the medical representative’s
time and convenience.
In Conclusion
The healthcare supply chain
is complex and involves various stakeholders in the entire process. A well-run healthcare
logistics service would ensure proper communication,so that all supply
chain partners and goods reach their point of use in working order and on time.
With the healthcare supply chain as one of the biggest areas for savings
opportunities, logistics service in this field would require the use of modern
technology to enhance the supply network.
Source: https://www.reddit.com/user/safexpress1/comments/mukv8f/challenges_faced_by_the_healthcare_logistics/
No comments:
Post a Comment