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Experts call for ramping up supply chain’s technological adoption to help drug industry grow
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Laxmi Yadav, Mumbai
April 27 , 2022
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In a bid to help the drug industry achieve exponential growth in the coming years, experts have called for ramping up the pharma supply chain’s technological adoption and integration.
Globally, technology has already become inseparable from the pharma supply chain. The Indian pharma supply chain can benefit in more ways than one by employing a technological approach that provides measurable, transparent and traceable data and reduces wastage of valuable products and resources, said Swarup Bose, founder and CEO, Celcius.
Celcius provides a platform for cold chain entities such as manufacturers, transporters/shippers and cold chain warehouse owners to reach out and collaborate with one another. It has built SaaS and AI-based platform with the aim to unify the fragmented Indian cold chain industry by creating a nation-wide network.
In India, the supply chain industry’s rapid growth has invited more private investments towards the sector in recent years. This coupled with government subsidies is likely to increase cold chain technology adoption rates in the future, he said.
The pharma supply chain is also headed towards a major restructuring process to make up for the shortage of infrastructure and to enable seamless collaboration within the industry. With more assets on board and optimizing processes based on demand and supply, the industry will be better equipped to deal with the future market scenarios and any unforeseen challenges, he opined.
The Indian cold chain market reached a value of Rs. 1,585.1 billion in 2021, exhibiting a CAGR of 14.72 per cent. These figures point to the rising demand for cold chain products with a heavy emphasis on pharmaceuticals. The ongoing vaccine drive in India has kept the cold chain industry busy since early 2021 and this trend is likely to continue for a few more years, stated Bose.
Shedding light on the way Celcius transported products such as vaccines without compromising on viability, he said “We employ refrigerated vehicles to transport all consignments so that the changes in environmental conditions do not affect the shipment. Celcius also deploys IoT-based temperature measurement devices (TMD), door sensors, temperature sensors and GPS devices to track and monitor the products during the journey. These devices send constant alerts and updates if the temperature changes, making it easy to identify and deal with the issue. We also use PCM (phase change material) to insulate the products as it is extremely efficient at absorbing heat from the environment to maintain the optimal temperature of the products. Even when the products are in storage warehouses, we ensure that each storage unit has a temperature sensor that is linked to an AI and IoT-based device, monitoring the temperature of the product.”
Temperature sensitive products, especially pharmaceuticals are quite tricky to store and transport as minor temperature excursions can lead to the entire shipment losing its viability. India is the largest provider of generic drugs globally and one of the biggest suppliers of low-cost vaccines in the world. The low price and high quality make Indian medicines stand out globally. The reputation of the industry deserves a quality cold supply chain that lives up to its customers' requirements, regardless of where they are located, said Founder and CEO of Celcius.
Collaboration and convergence of cold chain components is crucial in order to meet the market demands and support the country in its efforts towards vaccinating the population. Meeting this goal would require the industry to establish an end-to-end unbroken link between suppliers and tier-III cities and surrounding areas, he opined.
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