Pharmaceutical industry is heavily regulated globally and it has many markets, products, processes and intermediaries. The supply chain for the delivery of pharmaceutical services is often fragmented. Changes in one area effect the other area. Pricing, regulatory changes, actions of the competitors impact the whole supply chain. The pharmaceutical industry is ranked fourth in the world in terms of production volume and 13th in domestic consumption value.
Supply Chain in the pharmaceutical industry helps the organizations to develop their own blueprint for managing the opportunities and threats to the pharmaceutical supply chain. The pricing in the pharmaceutical industry is different for each customer.
For example, the products or services are provided at cheaper rates for hospitals when compared to the individual chemists. The most important factors of supply chain in pharmaceutical industry are inventory reduction and reduction of order cycle time. The logistics also plays very important role in pharmaceutical value chain as they account for 45 to 55 percent of the total costs.
The supply chain must be capable of using intellectual property in a right way, provide safe provision for drugs and it should be flexible and cost efficient. The delivery of pharmaceutical products in right quantity, right quality, right price and at right time for the right customer is very important and these products need to be stored at the given temperature and at the right humidity level.
The logistics and supply chain management plays an important role in the functioning of the pharmaceutical industry and they help in the enhancement of productivity and in the growth of this industry.