Gina Parry

In the era of supply chain disruptions, worker shortages, rising inflation, and ongoing global pandemic uncertainties, cutting costs through automation has never been more imperative for business operations. Looking ahead to 2022, automation can make the difference between growth and loss, and if you’re looking to stay in the growth category, knowing how to leverage automation is key. If you have not already done so, you might want to consider these options for your business strategy in the new year.

Online and mobile shopping are likely the primary purchase channels for many brands today. In a recent article in Industry Week, I shared thoughts on why (despite supply chain shortage challenges for certain products over the past year) the focus on e-commerce strategies was strong throughout 2020, is expected to increase through the remainder of 2021, and continue to shift the purchasing landscape moving forward. Economic uncertainties resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, especially throughout the supply chain, has made supply and demand tracking a difficult task, and in some cases has impacted shipping and delivery times.

Automation represents the future of warehouse operations. With these best practices in your automation planning, you can achieve operational gains that directly impact your organization’s bottom-line and allow you to forge stronger connections with partners on both sides of the supply chain.

To gauge whether a deployment is successful, establish KPIs to measure how the business, the customer, and downstream suppliers are affected. Ideally, the KPIs you identify should quantify outcomes and demonstrate that none of the three stakeholders (business, customer, and downstream suppliers) experiences a negative impact.

With the support of technology such as ERP, all processes are optimized and serialization is taken care of, allowing for a faster order-to-cash cycle and overall better business performance. Digitally transforming your pharmaceutical supply chain will ultimately set your business up for success because it will be prepared for any changes or additional regulations that may come in the future.