Data Driven Supply Chains Are the Future

Data is the lifeblood of modern business and those companies that wish to succeed in the modern landscape should be searching for innovative way to leverage the power of digital information to increase efficiency, become more agile, reduce siloing, and create an overall more effective industry.

Supply chains are no exception, and we are seeing the business of moving products from manufacturer to end user become steadily more data driven – especially following the logistical challenges and disruptions of the last two years of the COVID-19 crisis.

With Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and China’s Zero COVID strategy continuing to put massive pressure on global supply chains, the need for innovative technology driven solutions has rarely been more keenly felt than at this moment.

The Importance of Data in 2022

Customer expectations of supply chains have been evolving over the last decade. The modern customer expects to be able to gain visibility, access, and information into the progress of deliveries and any issues which may be arising – especially when it comes to potentially health- or even life-critical products such as pharmaceuticals.

Whether your medicines and treatments are being delivered to a healthcare provider or direct to customer, you need to be making data available to your customers to make sure they are kept informed every step of the way.

However, it’s not just customers that need this information. Stakeholders within the supply chain itself also need access to real-time data which can help them adapt to emerging situations and make decisions based on the most up to date reporting possible This applies to workers within your business and other links in the supply chain.

"Your employees want the same things," writes the Forbes Technology Council. "Efficiency and access to high-quality, easy-to-access information matters. The companies you do business with also expect to work with partners that can provide a high level of service and access to real-time status reports. The days when your customers and partners were fine with weekly spreadsheets, or a periodic email update are quickly fading away."

This creates a business environment where advanced data capabilities are not just nice to have as may once have been the case, but essential. Supply chain operators without data helping drive communication and decision making are going to find it increasingly difficult to compete in the future.

Improving Data Capabilities

The best way to begin improving your data capabilities is to get your own house in order and taking advantage of the technology your company already has in place.

Making sure all departments have a function and process for sharing data across your organization will break down the wall between them and reduce siloing. Without departments effectively sharing data within an organization, it can never expect to effectively leverage information from without.

Cloud based solutions mean your entire organization can be feeding into a single live data source and your internal supply chain capabilities – procurement, logistics, shipping, receiving, etc. can all be singing from the same hymn sheet.

Once this has been achieved, you can start incorporating external data into the mix. A good example of the data you can bring in at this stage is customer purchase data which can help with demand forecasting. Demand forecasting has become increasingly difficult due to the instability caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, but data can help every step in the pharmaceutical supply chain better manage this instability.

Automation can take care of the lion’s share of data capture and initial analysis, but pharmaceutical brands must take care to structure the data as to extract the greatest meaning from it. Structured data is information that has been assembled into a database so a user can gain insight from it. By contrast, users cannot enter unstructured data into a normal database because it doesn't conform to the usual data models.

"In a world where expectations are high and circumstances are fluctuating, prioritizing efficiency, and improving the quality of information flowing in and out of all systems is a strategic imperative," concludes the Forbes Technology Council. "Generating long-standing, replicable success means seeing the indicators that will detract or add to your business."

Final Thoughts

Data-analysis will help supply chains become more resilient, agile, and better positioned to cope with future crises. However, supply chain organizations must take things slowly and make sure their own data capabilities are solid before reaching out externally. Those brands which can achieve this will be the ones best placed to meet global need for pharmaceutical products – regardless of what comes down the pike next.

You can hear MorphoSys Vice President and Head of Global Supply Chain, Ann Merchant, speak on data driven supply chains and delivering business value at LogiPharma 2022, taking place in September at The Westin Copley Place, Boston, MA.

Download the agenda today for more information and insights.