The digital transformation of the pharmaceutical industry through IoT technology

IoT is the new and upcoming technology in town, with nearly all industries implementing IoT enhanced devices into their business operations. All companies are now looking at how they can incorporate innovative solutions in order to resolve the challenges they are experiencing. The ever-growing pharmaceutical sector is one of the industry leaders when it comes to the utilisation of IoT based technologies within their business operations. Using IoT platforms and solutions enables pharmaceutical companies to digitalise and automate their operations, increase operational efficiency and assure product quality and compliance.

Industries Using IOT.

The International Data Corporation forecasts that by 2025 there will be 41.6 billion IoT connected devices being used by various industries, generating 79.4 zettabytes of data. The implementation of IoT solutions is growing rapidly and reaping significant operational and monetary benefits for businesses. For the pharmaceutical industry, the utilisation of innovative solutions such as IoT enabled asset tracking solutions will enable greater supply chain visibility to be achieved and also enhance compliance by assuring regulations are met.

In the growing IoT world, connection and data are becoming the forefront of business strategies. With the utilisation of IoT enhanced devices such as asset trackers, companies can attain greater supply chain visibility and intervene when necessary. For the pharmaceutical industry, this is of particular benefit as pharmaceuticals can deteriorate quickly when temperature excursions occur resulting in significant costs. Warehousing operations and transportation can account for up to 95% of the costs within the pharmaceutical industry as reported by McKinsey and Company. 

Exposure to prolonged light, fluctuations in temperatures and damaged pharmaceutical packages can easily deteriorate the viability of the medications. Increased supply chain visibility will enable companies to consistently monitor their valuable consignments as they are being transported.

Digital transformation of the pharmaceutical industry.

The digital transformation of the pharmaceutical industry has meant that they are better equipped to manage and safeguard biopharmaceuticals. Biopharmaceuticals require stringent temperature monitoring due to their sensitive and perishable nature. A report released by Pharmaceutical Technology in 2019 found that of the top 10 ranking pharmaceuticals based on revenue, 4 of them were biopharmaceuticals.

This represents the increasing need for IoT enabled asset tracking solutions that can digitally track pharmaceuticals during transportation. Ensuring product traceability across the supply chain can also reduce the costs associated with product recall.

Pharmaceutical theft.

Pharmaceutical theft is becoming a growing problem for both suppliers and distributors of the industry. The Partnership for Safe Medicine estimated that an annual $30 billion is lost to stolen pharmaceuticals with an average of $4 million being lost with each theft. Although the pharmaceutical industry is highly profitable, these losses can have a significant impact on the revenue of many companies. 

The United States FDA enacted the Drug Supply Chain Security Act in 2015, to establish the mandatory tracking of all pharmaceutical goods from 2023 onwards. The utilisation of innovative solutions such as IoT enabled asset trackers that provide near real-time data and alerts are imperative to being able to abide by these laws.

IoT enabled asset tracking solutions.

Digital transformation through innovative solutions is the forefront of Adapt Ideations’ products. Our IoT enabled asset tracking solution KELVIN Pro gives companies the power to digitally track their consignments. The asset tracker tracks location and includes geo-fencing capabilities that allows location parameters to be set resulting in near real-time alerts if deviations occur.

The asset tracking solution also features light, shock and temperature sensors that detect any deviations from the set parameters. For the pharmaceutical industry, the ability to digitally monitor and track valuable consignments allows greater operational efficiency and monetary benefits to be achieved.

Enquire today at enquiries@adaptideations.com to find out how your company can digitally transform its supply chain operations.

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