Track & Trace

In today’s world of pharmaceutical serialization where we have dozens of different regulations and laws pertaining to pharmaceutical and medical device serialization across the globe, the Quality Person (QP), Quality Assurance (QA) or Quality Control (QC) team in the pharmaceutical industry has to put in a lot of efforts to validate the entire system and ensure that all the process, procedure, and method is working correctly and would consistently lead to the expected results.

The first response to the global pandemic for many manufacturers was to go digital in their operations as fast as possible. While going digital is the right path, it is not enough. The trends identified by Gartner can help manufacturing CIOs prepare for similar future disruptions in the long run and mitigate challenges such as lack of customer touchpoints, entering new markets or product lines and financial distress.

Most consumers today have experienced using QR codes, especially in today’s post-pandemic world, where contactless check-ins, data entry, and even virtual restaurant menus have become the norm. When it comes to leveraging these codes on packaged goods like food, beverage, and household products, there are many opportunities to boost customer engagement and share information.

Do you like numbers? Do you like retail systems news? Then this is the article for you. Including Glovo, Marks & Spencer, Superdry, The Very Group and Gopuff.

At its most fundamental level, packaging serves as protection for the product inside. It makes shipping and transportation simple and ensures a decent shelf life for your product. Secondly, and perhaps no less important, your packaging needs to make the right impression. In fact, the importance of packaging cannot be overstated when it comes to marketing your products. It fulfils a variety of functions and when it comes to brand identity, recognition and customer loyalty, it plays a crucial role.

Connected packaging has been widely implemented in the fast-moving consumer goods and food & beverage industries through initiatives like SmartLabel. However, the pharma industry has begun to catch-up.

Aux côtés des patients et des pharmaciens, le packaging ne cesse d'innover pour intégrer les nouveaux impératifs de sécurisation des traitements. Rien n'est accessoire dans le médicament, et surtout pas sa boîte. Soumise à autorisation et déposée en même temps que le dossier AMM, elle fait partie du traitement… Parce qu'elle peut avoir une incidence sur son observance et sur la sécurité de sa dispensation.

The global population is increasing at a steep rate, far outpacing available resources in the traditional “take-make-waste” approach of the linear economy. This is why there is a shift towards a circular economy. Solutions that aim to reduce waste and the use of new raw materials enable establishing a closed-loop economy. Thus, circular economy solutions turn waste into resources and extend the life of products and materials. While recycling, reusing, and repairing have been around for a long time, startups and smart cities are turning to technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), and blockchain to advance the circular economy.

Smart logistics requires the combination of software and ar glasses to present visualized information in real-time, unified management of warehouses, including the registration and recording of goods in and out of the warehouse, sorting, and classification of goods, to realize rapid real-time query and traceability of information.

Technology is advancing rapidly and with it comes the potential to improve pharmaceutical manufacturing. At the end of 2020, Schott scooped the top place in our annual Innovation Awards for its Smart Container Technology – individually coded vials that give manufacturers the ability to track vials moving through fill and finish lines. Not only could this improve reject management and line clearance, but the data gathered could also influence process improvements. Regulations don’t currently mandate that manufacturers implement this level of traceability in manufacturing, but companies are already looking to the future and evaluating how solutions like this can benefit their business.

Pharmaceutical companies need to keep track of their packages and parcels as they move through the supply chain. Companies need to trace packs at the individual and pallet level so that they can ensure that customers receive the correct products in the right quantity. To do this, pharma supply chains implement a range of security measures, which we describe below.

The benefits of connected packaging can be significant, delivering a unique and challenging blend of engagement and data, allowing teams to make better product decisions and plan more effective marketing campaigns.

Low-quality medicines are becoming an industry problem with an estimated $ 200 billion annually, while also increasing the risk of antimicrobial resistance. According to estimates, 10 percent of all drugs in the world are counterfeit drugs.

Pionnier dans l’ADN moléculaire, Olnica est à l’origine du traceur invisible à code unique à base de terres rares, intégrable dans la matière première ou imprimable sur n’importe quel produit, packaging ou étiquette. Olnica a depuis développé une offre complète matérielle (lecteurs pour les contrôles en usine ou sur le terrain), logicielle (applications connectées et Cloud sécurisé traçant les contrôles produits en temps réel) et de service (audit, intégration et Forensic).

The management and control of the drug supply chains have gradually been changing in order to ensure efficiency and integrity in the operations. The SFDA regulations and standards began having an impact in early 2019 and have grown to bring about impressive changes in the health industry. In order to enhance a reliable tracking system, the SFDA had to adopt and implement GS1 standards for pharmaceutical products which were also inclusive of non-prescription medicine. The GS1 standards are designed in a way that they refine the safety, visibility and efficacy of supply chains across both physical and digital channels. The SFDA has always had a vision and objective of ensuring the pharmaceutical supply chains are secure, systematic and meet the subjective needs of all parties involved. With such an ambitious goal, it is crystal clear that it can only be achieved if the set laws and regulations are strictly adhered

The packaging industry is adopting smart and sustainable solutions to make product packaging more consumer-, brand-, and environmentally-friendly. The major packaging industry trends that enable smart packaging are the internet of packaging, active packaging, and the use of nanotechnology. However, since the COVID-19 pandemic has kept people in their homes, packaging from online shopping creates the serious challenge of waste production. Hence, startups and scaleups accelerate innovations around biodegradable, recyclable, and edible packaging. At the same time, the deployment of 3D printing and robotic packaging simplifies packaging processes and reduces costs for brands and consumer product companies.

Mettler-Toledo said having full visibility of all product data will help to identify ingredient and packaging issues early in the manufacturing process thereby facilitating product recalls and traceability to the precise location of substandard product in the marketplace for quick retrieval.

Serialization is the assignment of a unique serial number to each salable prescription product unit. Each prescription product contains information about the product's origin, batch number and validity date. In the United States, serialization of all prescription drugs at both the salable unit level and the case level became mandatory in 2017.

In 2017 the Indonesian Food and Drug Authority (BPOM-Bedan Pengawas obat dan Makanan) began the initial implementation of serialization to fight the impacts of counterfeit drugs in the country. It, in turn, became the first ASEAN member state to implement and begin the serialization process.

The National Health Regulatory Authority in Bahrain plays a key role in ensuring expected health standards are met. This guarantees that patients are provided with safe drugs and can access the best form of medical care. The NHRA is an independent sector that regulates the entire healthcare system in the Kingdom. It has effective regulatory procedures that involve the licensing of all parties involved in the healthcare business such as pharmaceutical centres and hospitals. The NHRA has implemented a blockchain based end to end traceability hub which is the first of its kind in the GCC.

The epidemic has brought in a renewed effort in maintaining strict hygiene and safety standards keeping consumer safety in mind. It is needed for business owners to have clear visibility of the supply chain. Traceability plays an indispensable role in consumer safety when it comes to either food and pharmaceutical products or industrial goods. The following are the top 7 reasons that indicate why traceability implementation is important.

Sustainability is high on the agenda of today’s shoppers. This is reflected by the fact that over three quarters (75% UK and 77% U.S.) of consumers will use their mobile device to connect with products for experiences that add value to their lives such as how to dispose of or recycle a product. The recycling information provided by a connected product is location-based, so the packaging itself can advise where the nearest recycling centre is. Over half of UK respondents (57%) want to use packaging to learn about the sustainability credentials of the product compared to 63% in the U.S. Providence is also key for today’s discerning consumers as a further two thirds (63% UK and 71% US) aim to use the connected packaging to find out how the product is made.

A product’s life cycle begins in a manufacturing unit and enters the supply chain network to reach the end customer. However, bulk manufactured goods are susceptible to damage or loss due to the mass handling of products. Moreover, there is not yet one proper mechanism to track every unit of a product, leading to losses due to damage, inferior product quality, and theft. That is why startups develop easy-to-deploy sensor technologies to enable the tracking of a product throughout the supply chain.

Staying ahead of the technology curve means strengthening your competitive advantage. That is why we give you data-driven innovation insights into the packaging industry. This time, you get to discover 5 hand-picked startups advancing the Internet of Packaging.

Packaging is at the center of the branding experience and serves as a primary way companies communicate who they are—a chance to meaningfully engage with consumers. The methods to do so are constantly changing, a truism highlighted by 2020.