At a time when healthcare spend by government of India is on a steady upward trajectory and Indian pharma market is expected to grow to USD 55 billion by 2020, it has become utmost important for pharma industries to leverage tracking technologies for safety in supply chain, said Rajesh Pednekar, international expert, pharma supply chain management.

Throwing light on the framework for optimising logistics cost and reducing pharmaceutical pilferage, Pednekar who has been adjudged among top 50 influencers in supply chain in APAC by Terrapin, Singapore said, “The pharmaceuticals can opt for preventive technological measures to reduce pilferage/theft. The measures including electronic record of personnel entering/exiting the store room, bio metrics, CCTV surveillance can be deployed at loss making locations.”

He further added, “There are advanced technological solutions to reduce pilferage/theft including telematics, RFID and acousto-magnetic tags, ERP and Cloud (Software as a Service). There are two methods for cost optimisation for telematics solutions, one is monthly rentals (recommended for heavy use) and second is pay as you use (recommended for light or trial use).”

India has become the leading outsourcing services centre of the world in IT development, medical diagnostic support, pharmaceutical, biotechnology development, etc. On the other hand, the healthcare expenditure by both the central and state governments is on a steady upward trajectory.

He said, “With inflationary pressures, pharma industries will have to be open to various options to improve service and optimise costs. The industries need to mitigate risk around transportation and storage for efficient and effective supply chains. We need to embrace newer technologies available. The past is a very bad predictor of the future. We cannot work with archaic/legacy models in the future. Its time we usher in new models into the new era.”

“The need of the hour is a real time shipment tracking service which can be used on demand and deployed without relying on the party shipping your goods,” said Pednekar.

Mobile apps will drive healthcare in future which will in turn drive pharma supply chain innovations, he added.

“Healthcare apps on iOS, Blackberry and Androids are growing at a fiery pace. Hundreds of apps are available to keep you healthy and fit. Apps to check blood sugar via USB port of your tablet/smartphone are already being evaluated. It's not about just drugs anymore, it's about keeping patients healthy. Drugs prescription is just a part-significant currently. Digital revolution has flooded all areas of human life. Old cameras/rolls and companies like Kodak have vanished. Big pharma needs to think beyond the obvious. It may not be far fetched to say that tomorrow’s healthcare will be digital, delivered through new age tablets, ipads, and iPhones,” he said.