Supply Chain Excellence in Consumer Healthcare
The consumer healthcare market is on the march. Health-conscious consumers and trends like ‘self-care’ and product convenience drive the constant development of new solutions. Original and user-friendly delivery formats, new active ingredients and combinations of these, and new packaging types are just some of the areas that currently challenge the supply chain set-up.
The dynamic market conditions and shorter product lifecycles call for supply chain excellence based on unrelenting reliability, innovative production technologies, increased digitalization, seamless processes and optimum production footprint.
This article explores the opportunities and challenges of today’s innovative supply chain for consumer healthcare products.
The empowered consumer isready for the next product
‘What’s next’ is a key question in the consumer healthcare market, where consumers increasingly take control of their own health and well-being. Around the world, people seek new healthcare products that can enhance their quality of life, improve performance and support individual lifestyle choices.The response of the healthcare industry is a consumer-centric approach thatdrives a continuous flow of new products. Supply chain agility that allows fast release of novel formulations and user-friendly formats is required to meet the expectations.From first idea to manufacturing, packaging, documentation and distribution, the supply chain set-up matters more than ever.
Benefits of an integrated set-up
How to build a resilient and flexible supply chain that can accommodate the products of today and tomorrow? That is the ever-relevant question facing consumer healthcare industries. In the search for the optimum solution, proximity between the development laboratories and the production facilities is key to achieving a fast, seamless and highly efficient process from first idea to product launch.
When laboratories and production are close, the experts from both environments can easily work together, try out new ideas and find the best way forward. The integrated environment enables easy testing and modification of formulations, formats, release profiles, and tastevariants. If a product contains sensitive ingredients requiring special precautions, specialists are at hand to solve the challenges in the early phases of the development process.
The close interaction between R&D and production supports fast prototyping, testing and validation of product design; and when the final product design is in place, the integrated setup provides a head start to ramp up production. All these factors combine to ensure efficient development processes and fast time to market for innovative consumer healthcare products
“The market for consumer health care looksmore and more like the FMCG market. It isall about speed and agility from first idea tolaunch.”
Henri Skou, Vice President Supply Chain, Fertin Pharma
The value of partnerships
What is our core business? Where should we focus investments and hone our skills? What arethe risks and opportunities of outsourcing product development, production and logistics? Intoday’s competitive marketplace, more and more consumer healthcare companies reflect onthe right set-up and strategic focus of the business. In many cases, these reflections lead topartnership with a Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO).
The role of the CDMO is to be master of the entire product lifecycle – from idea and concept development, through prototyping and testing to manufacturing and packaging. With a strong link between laboratories and production facilities, the experienced production people can participate in product development to ensure short lead times from the first idea to ramp up and full production.
This kind of close, strategic relationship facilitates open collaboration and exchange of knowledge that paves the way for continuous improvements and enhances profitability on both sides of the table.
“A joint Customer Improvement Programme is astrong lever to optimize the entire product lifecycle. When collaborating closely, we can reducecost and increase competitiveness. It is a win-winfor all parties”.
Henri Skou, Vice President Supply Chain, Fertin Pharma
