In the highly regulated pharmaceutical industry, where precision and compliance are critical, automation stands out as a transformative solution. Let’s explore how this technology is driving more intelligent and more efficient systems across the sector.
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Unique characteristics of pharmaceutical distribution
Delivering pharmaceutical products involves a multifaceted system designed to maintain safety and efficiency. Key characteristics include:
The complexity of pharmaceutical distribution processes
Pharmaceutical distribution is notably complex due to the sensitive nature of its products and stringent regulatory requirements. According to PNR Pharma, it involves managing IRT systems for clinical trials, ensuring precision in order processing, selecting compliant courier partners, and maintaining strict temperature control to safeguard product integrity. Additionally, the need for seamless coordination across various stakeholders, including manufacturers, distributors, and logistics partners, adds another layer of complexity, requiring meticulous planning and real-time monitoring.
Ensuring high compliance through cautious management
The complexity of global regulatory compliance in the pharmaceutical industry arises from the need to adhere to diverse and often conflicting regulations across different countries. Each region, such as the U.S. FDA, the European Medicines Agency (EMA), Japan’s PMDA, and Vietnam’s Drug Administration, has its own set of requirements for drug approval, manufacturing, and distribution, which can vary significantly when pharmaceutical companies seek to export or conduct business internationally. (World Pharma Today) Additionally, pharmaceutical companies must navigate customs and trade regulations, including tariffs and international trade laws, which impact the movement of raw materials and finished products.
Expertise at the core of quality assurance
According to Management Sciences for Health, the quality of a final pharmaceutical product is influenced by its starting materials, equipment, and the technical expertise involved in its production and packaging. Unlike more static products, medicine is dynamic, with its characteristics, such as color, consistency, and chemical identity, subject to change between manufacture and consumption. Quality assurance in pharmaceutical supply systems ensures that each medicine reaching a patient is safe, effective, and of appropriate quality. This is achieved through technical and managerial activities, such as evaluating product documentation, conducting quality-control tests, and monitoring product performance.
Use cases of automation solutions for distribution process optimization
Automating distribution processes can significantly enhance efficiency and accuracy across various stages of the supply chain. Here are some critical use cases for automation in distribution:
- Inventory management: Automating stock tracking and replenishment to ensure optimal stock levels and reduce manual errors.
- Logistic management: Enhancing routing, scheduling, and delivery tracking to improve the efficiency and timeliness of shipments.
- Order processing: Streamlining order entry, validation, and fulfillment to improve speed and accuracy in delivering products.
- Shipment tracking and notifications: Providing real-time shipment tracking and automatic notifications to customers about order status and delivery updates.
- Invoice and payment processing: Streamlining the creation, validation, and approval of invoices, as well as processing payments to improve financial accuracy and reduce administrative burden.
- Supplier onboarding: Automating supplier registration and document verification to streamline onboarding and compliance processes.
- Compliance monitoring: Automating the monitoring of regulatory requirements to ensure that products meet industry standards and avoid penalties.
Trusted partners for implementing automation in pharmaceutical companies
To thrive in their digital transformation journey, many pharmaceutical companies, like GONSA, have partnered with technology solution providers such as SAP S/4HANA and akaBot by FPT IS.
GONSA, a major distributor of healthcare products, previously relied on manual processes for handling thousands of invoices and orders monthly, leading to time-consuming tasks and a high risk of errors, especially during critical accounting periods. Automating invoice verification with akaBot, the company streamlined processes like cross-checking supplier information, product batch numbers, and expiration dates against the SAP cloud ERP system. Correct invoices are processed automatically, while discrepancies are flagged for review, cutting processing time to just 1–2 minutes per invoice and eliminating human errors.
The transformative impact of akaBot also extended to automating GONSA’s purchasing processes. The system automatically handles tasks such as addressing credit limit holds or replenishing out-of-stock items. The system checks every 30 minutes to update credit limits and trigger timely order dispatches, replacing manual interventions. By automating end-to-end processes in the accounting and purchasing departments, GONSA saves up to 1,100 work hours monthly, ensures 100% accuracy, and enables staff to focus on more strategic, high-value tasks.
About akaBot
With these achievements, akaBot is a reliable automation partner, offering comprehensive services, AI integration, and 24/7 support, making it an ideal solution for businesses seeking intelligent automation worldwide.
Designed as a comprehensive intelligent automation solution, akaBot delivers full RPA services, encompassing assessment, Proof of Concept (PoC), implementation, operation, maintenance, and 24/7 support. It seamlessly integrates AI, offers flexible deployment options on-premise or in the cloud, and includes OCR capabilities along with conversational and speech functionalities. akaBot is well-equipped to address diverse automation needs. The team has a strong domain experts and end-to-end support services,
Contact now to unlock automation potential for your pharmaceutical business!
akaBot (FPT) is the operation optimization solution for enterprises based on the RPA (Robotic Process Automation) platform combined with Artificial Intelligence, Process Mining, OCR, Intelligent Document Processing, Machine Learning, Conversational AI, etc. Serving clients in 21+ countries, across 08 domains such as Banking & Finances, Retail, IT Services, Manufacturing, and Logistics…, akaBot is featured in “Voice of the Customer” for Robotics Process Automation” by Gartner Peer Insights, G2, and ranked as Top 6 Global RPA Platform by Software Reviews. akaBot also won the prestigious Stevie Award, The Asian Banker Award 2021, Everest Group’s RPA Products PEAK Matrix® 2023, etc.
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