Four benefits of supply chain control towers for pharma businesses

Control towers first emerged in the 1990s as a solution for logistics managers to gain control over their shipping operations. Over time and with the advent of Internet of Things (IoT) technology, the control tower has become a valuable tool for providing updates on the location and conditions of shipments in real-time. Here we look at four key benefits control towers have for pharmaceutical businesses.

A centralized hub of information

A control tower is essentially a dashboard that collects data from different sources and feeds it into a database that provides an easy-to-read view of events. The temperature of a product, the location of a courier, and even weather conditions from any point in the supply chain can all be fed into the control tower, so operators can view the data in real-time without the need to search for it across different devices.

Ada Pálmadóttir, Vice President of Business Development at Controlant, explains how valuable having a centralized dashboard is to help distribution vaccines as part of the Covid-19 rollout:  “As well as gathering information on the temperature and location of the goods as they travel, we also connect directly with the couriers. Milestones for courier delivery are fed directly into our system, so that we know when [the shipment] is at the airport, when it is handed from the courier to the airport’s ground handler, and when it is on the flight.”

End-to-end visibility

The complicated nature of supply chains, which can involve multiple countries and stakeholders, makes it difficult to track and trace shipments in transit. In the case of medicines this can lead to counterfeit medication entering the supply chain. This is a huge problem globally as according to the World Health Organization up to 30 percent of pharmaceutical products sold in emerging markets are counterfeit, leading to one million deaths each year.  

Read the full report: Navigating the pharma supply chain with real-time data and control tower technology

A control tower enables visibility from end-to-end, through disclosure of relevant information to all stakeholders including manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors, pharmacies, patients, hospitals and other medical facilities. This way operators can keep track of shipments across the entire journey and make sure they reach patients intact.

Monitoring in real-time

The ability to monitor shipments in real-time means that should something happen that could affect the product in transit, a decision can be taken to mitigate or prevent it. For instance, if an operator becomes aware of a potential delay that could lead to a temperature excursion, they can plan an alternative route to avoid the spoilage of the medicine.  

Pálmadóttir says: “Decision-making must be based on real-time monitoring to affect real-time outcomes. The pharmaceutical industry has achieved enormous improvements in successful drug distribution in recent years because of new technologies that provide real-time data and tools that turn it into actionable insights.”

Improved return on investment (ROI)

The above three benefits help businesses save time and money, leading to a better ROI.  As Pálmadóttir explains: “The control tower connects real-time dashboards, aggregating relevant pieces of internal and external data. The resulting actions such as intervening to avoid delay or correct temperature, redirecting a shipment along a better route, preventing the distribution of a damaged product, or comparing the performance of suppliers or distributors to inform business decisions, are points at which the ROI becomes apparent.”

Quick links

• Pharma 4.0 and the supply chain 
• Why digital transformation is essential in the pharmaceutical supply chain 
• Pharma 4.0 can improve product safety. Here is how

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