The Growing Importance of Supply Chain Visibility

The world is becoming increasingly aware of the fact that many businesses carry out work in a manner which is opaque and are insisting we change our ways to become more transparent in how we do what we do.

Because of the global nature of modern supply chains, stakeholders need to be confident that all the links in the chain are operating in a manner which is congruent with each other and customers at the very end of the process are able to rely on its ability to get critical products – especially in the case of pharmaceuticals – to them.

Prioritizing transparency within your global supply chains will allow your organization to better meet the wants, needs, and expectations of customers and all stakeholders within the process.

Supply Chain Visibility

Supply chain visibility is an inventory strategy which seeks to improve the allocation and distribution of products and shipments. It makes inventory levels in stores and warehouses easily accessible and provides regular updates on shipping progress and other critical information regarding the movement of goods around the world.

End-to-end supply chain visibility brings with it a host of benefits for producers, customers, and every stakeholder in between, including:

• Improved inventory management
• Increased customer experience and satisfaction
• Shortened cycle times
• Improved efficiency and productivity
• Reduced lead times
• Reduced costs
• More precise data capabilities

There are many reasons why supply chain visibility is critical to modern operation. The complexity inherent in our global marketplace means there are more points of failure than ever before and having transparent insight into every link in the chain significantly reduces the chances for disruption to occur.

The regulatory landscape is also harder to navigate than ever before with new compliance considerations such as the European Union’s GDPR, the United Kingdom’s exit from the EU, the Californian privacy bill, and more all having an impact on how data is shared across borders and the movement of products.

Customers are also more concerned than ever about ethical practice in global business and end-to-end visibility can help ensure that all stakeholders are behaving in a manner congruent with modern values. Transparency also reduces the opportunity for criminal behavior – such as the introduction of counterfeit good into the supply chain – again, particularly relevant when dealing with pharmaceuticals.

"Greater supplier visibility is becoming a vital part of business as ethical standards and brand alignment heighten in importance," said Group Managing Director at DMA Group, Steve McGregor in an interview with CIPS. "An individual working for one of our service partners in the chain must reflect our own brand values and behavior. You need to know what’s going on, where and by whom, all of the time, and it needs to be a seamless process"

Improving Transparency

There are many ways to improve transparency within the pharma supply chain and all require fresh thinking and investment.

Supply chain management technology ranges from simple point products to suites with dozens of modules that natively integrate supply chain and logistics capabilities with core back-end systems like ERP and CRM and can work to automate process from the manufacturing stage right up until final delivery.

However, SCM technology is useless without a dedicated strategy of process improvement throughout the operation. Eliminating manual reporting and spreadsheets is a good first step to improving efficiency as is making sure decision makers receive regular reports and updates to allow them to make agile and proactive choices for the good of the whole operation.

"Some industries have advanced to integrated systems to get real-time forecasts and production performance," said CEO of Armstrong, Daniel Owen. "These build greater resilience by offering consistent visibility and the opportunity to make changes quickly before any knock-on effect occurs. A simple step towards this is making time to conduct regular feedback sessions with suppliers to discuss opportunities and challenges."

Digitization, cloud emigration, resilience, nearshoring/reshoring, reverse/circular logistics, automation and robotics, and AI are all going to be critical when it comes to improving supply chain visibility. However, they are all for naught without the commitment and drive from all levels of management to implement them alongside process improvements.

Final Thoughts

End-to-end visibility is going to be one of the factors which dictates how supply chains bounce back from the COVID-19 crisis and improves logistics operations throughout the pharmaceutical industry. Global demand for pharma products isn’t going anywhere, but we can expect to see increased expectations for transparency while doing so.

You can hear Dyne Therapeutics Head of Supply Chain talk about digitization and end-to-end supply chain visibility at LogiPharma 2022, betaking place in September at The Westin Copley Place, Boston, MA.

Download the agenda today for more information and insights.