The need for serialization
One of the constant battles the pharmaceutical industry has to face, is to prevent counterfeit and falsified drugs from entering the market and putting the public’s health at risk. The fraudulent products and drugs may be manufactured in multiple locations (fillers in one location, packaging in another, etc). It makes identifying them difficult to track and trace in order for them to be removed from the supply chain.
Traceability becomes harder when packaging in multiple layers for transportation
With serialization of these goods, a unique serial number is assigned to each saleable unit per product. It makes having the necessary information about the origin, batch number and expiration date of the product easy to identify throughout the entire supply chain — from production till it reaches the patient.
A robust serialization management strategy can benefit not just the manufacturer, but the entire supply chain. With serialization of products, there’s trust, responsibility, transparency and ownership between all the members (manufacturers, stakeholders and customers) in the supply chain.
Serialization enables faster and simpler returns
Serialization allows supply chains to become more efficient as it makes tracking and tracing products easier as well as recalling and returns of products quicker and simpler. This also helps businesses plan better and reduce overhead costs. They can prevent stock piling of excess products as serialization helps in understanding which products are in demand, how much production is needed and how much cost to allocate for manufacturing.
Organizations can prevent unforeseen and costly supply-chain disruptions and vulnerabilities that lead to recalls by strengthening their risk management. Businesses should factor in current events (political and economic) to forecast their impact on manufacturing, production and operations. Businesses should also be able to identify and document potential risk in the future, design and use methodology that has provided high value solutions. This may allow them to be in a position to replace products speedily for better customer service. In this manner companies can trace counterfeit products down to the unit level and also speedily act upon product shortages.
Mass transportation of vaccines requires a robust serialization implementation strategy
Supply chains may experience blockages at times owing to changing global regulations and restrictions. The governing authorities per country may have specific requirements and it crucial for businesses to be aware of these to prevent delays. Serialization can help in being compliant and meet the required regulations.
With the risk of counterfeit vaccines being transported, it is only a matter of time that serialization becomes mandatory in all geographies. The companies that implement it much before the deadlines stay ahead of the competition and have enough time to streamline and standardize their processes to stay compliant.
Stay ahead of the competition by choosing an experienced partner in your serialization journey, Learn more about our Serialization services here.