LogiPharma Takeaways for the Pharma Supply Chain
By T.C. Baker
LogiPharma 2024 had record attendance, so the rooms and breakout areas were packed. Even the overflow area was full of exhibit booths and stacks of packing containers. It felt like the place to be for pharma supply chain professionals and all the vendors and partners who keep that network running.
As I listened to the presentations and walked the floor, I noticed three standout themes that kept cropping up. These are the themes that pharmaceutical supply chains will be prioritizing and working hard to improve over the coming year, and TransVoyant will be supporting our clients in enhancing these operations.
LogiPharma Trend 1: It’s All About the Patients
From shippers to logistics service providers (LSPs) to packaging and technology providers, this theme was consistent. There were numerous presenters and panelists reminding attendees that the healthcare industry’s primary goal is to improve patient outcomes, and even to increasingly personalize patient care.
It’s true that pharma and other healthcare companies often regard compliance with regulations such as the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DCSA) as ongoing and costly burdens. But LogiPharma speakers recognized that these regulations increase patient safety. They also deter the growing problem of counterfeit products entering the value chain. Supply chain professionals in this industry in particular all agree that the top goal is to help the healthcare industry to care for patients.
LogiPharma Trend 2: VUCA
Variability, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity (VUCA), is a phrase that came into vogue around 2008. Based on what I saw at LogiPharma, VUCA is not only here to stay, but managers recognize that this supply chain instability is actually increasing.
No one knows when, how, or where the next major disruption is going to hit pharma supply chains but we all know that more disruption is coming. Piracy, port strikes and congestion, extreme weather, wars, and even temperature excursions are hard to predict. Manufacturers and shippers recognize that they need to invest heavily in agility and resilience to prepare for and respond to unforeseen disruptions.
I’m proud to say that TransVoyant’s pharma supply chain clients have found our risk assessment approach to be helpful. Our AI-backed forecasts can predict the probability and magnitude of impact. This shortens the time horizon between identifying a problem and being able to respond effectively. When enterprises can rank and prioritize events by magnitude of impact, being able to mitigate those creates significant value.
Figure 1: TransVoyant’s AI-backed forecasts can predict the probability and magnitude of event impact.
LogiPharma Trend 3: High-Tech
The LogiPharma exhibition floor was a hotbed of emerging technology. I noted numerous examples of practical artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) applications showcased as pharma supply chain management solutions. These solutions addressed use cases including demand forecasting, data cleansing/healing, and even large language models (LLM) used to convert speech and/or text into queries that extract and present information from enterprise systems.
Packaging vendors showcased their latest high-tech innovations for insulated materials that reduce the cost and extend the safe time out of refrigeration (ToR) for cold chain shipments. I also saw new capabilities from Internet-of-things (IoT) sensors to monitor temperature, humidity, light, and location.
As an IoT sensor and logistics service provider (LSP) agnostic platform, TransVoyant is interested in and often working with these emerging solutions. We continuously assist customers to take advantage of the latest price/performance improvements and blend them seamlessly into current operations.
My overall takeaway? Pharmaceutical companies will prioritize resources to deliver increasingly reliable, safe, and personalized patient care. They’ll rely on more and more high-tech solutions to reach that goal amid growing supply chain uncertainty. I’m excited about TransVoyant’s role in coordinating the data flow and predicting disruption so we can help enterprises protect and optimize their supply chain operations.
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