Track & Trace

Embedding advanced features into packaging such as sensing or wireless communication makes packaging ​“smart” which can provide significant functionality. The packaging then becomes not only a way to protect and provide information on medicines, but can add a whole host of extra functionality which can even be part of a IoT enabled connected system. In the pharma industry, this smart packaging can reduce supply chain losses through enhanced environmental monitoring, support improved patient adherence through smart adherence packaging and increase security through adding anti-tamper or unclonable serialisation technologies.

Rising global costs and the fragmented nature of the healthcare supply chain creates several challenges. The healthcare industry needs efficient solutions that can streamline supply chain operations and processes in a cost-effective manner. Leading healthcare players are exploring blockchain technologies to achieve efficiencies and gain better control over their supply chains.

The Hyperledger Grid project, as it’s called, will initially offer businesses modular software and smart contract components to address problems such as tracking and tracing shipped goods, electronic certifications and bill of lading exchange.

The cell and gene therapy industry cannot grow without a ‘standardized, systematized, industrialized foundation,’ according to experts from Lonza and Vineti, which have teamed up to advance a ‘vein-to-vein’ delivery network.

Tyre manufacturing company, Michelin is planning to launch the commercial version of its intercontinental supply chain solution this September. With the help of it, any company can locate and track its shipments worldwide. The solution, called “Safecube,” had been developed in partnership with Sigfox, the wireless-network operator and industry consultancy firm called Argon Consulting.

Patients would be able to buy lower-cost drugs imported from other countries under a proposal announced Wednesday by the Trump administration.
"Access to affordable prescription drugs can be a matter of life or death for American patients," Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar said Wednesday morning on a phone call with reporters. "We all know how unfair it is that other countries are paying lower prices for the same drugs, and we're taking action."

According to the FWD, the ultimate cost to the wholesale sector could stretch into the millions

Aggregation supports pharmaceutical manufacturers and combats the rise of counterfeit products by improving supply-chain visibility. Aggregation technology is quickly becoming a hot topic because of its role in traceability for pharmaceutical manufacturers.

Former Qantas chief information officer Jamila Gordon has attracted backing from the CSIRO's $240 million venture capital fund Main Sequence Ventures, to expand the operations of her start-up Lumachain, which is looking to use blockchain technology to make food production and manufacturing more transparent amid global efforts to eradicate slave labour.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has asked the government to ensure that the system to electronically monitor the production and supply of cigarettes and other products of tobacco is completely operational by March 2020.
The lending agency has also directed the relevant departments that to meet this deadline, the bidding process should be completed by September 2019 and successful bidding company should be issued the license to implement this Track & Trace System. The IMF has also asked the government to withdraw the legal provisions aimed at limiting the tax audit.

betterRetailing has uncovered documents that reveal successful lobbying from the tobacco industry calling for tougher enforcement and penalties for retailers not complying to track and trace (T&T) legislation.

The long-awaited July 2019 revision to DotCode—the barcode symbology adopted for track-and-trace by key manufacturers in the tobacco industry because of its ability to be applied at speeds of more than 1,000 codes per minute—makes one expert wonder if beverage and other high-speed packaging and distribution operations can be far behind in implementing the symbology.

A medical centre in Hong Kong had 76 boxes of an HPV vaccine seized after a complaint from a patient who experienced adverse side effects.

Supply chain analytics implementations are up, while satisfaction is down. Are the systems really under-delivering, or are there undiscovered issues?

The pressing need for patient engagement and usage of smart packaging to track the product are the major factors focused upon by the companies. Some of the key points considered while packaging pharmaceutical products are better shelf-life, protecting migration of packaging component into drugs, uniformity of medicine throughout the entire production, and preventing drugs from reacting with oxygen.

Digital technologies could transform supply chain visibility and transparency in fashion, but a culture of resistance is holding the industry back

Businesses are investing in supply chain more and more, especially in track-and-trace technology. Supply Chain Drive reported, “Among industries spending on Internet of Things (IoT) technology, the track-and-trace sector is expected to have the largest spending growth — a 24.2% increase — on IoT devices between 2017 and 2023.”

Transportation is evolving rapidly, thanks to supply chain technology powered by data and analytics, and digitization is driving big changes that can help meet the pace of change in the marketplace.

The United States Food and Drug Administration announced Thursday that the department wants to use blockchain distributed ledger technology to track and trace the production and movement of drugs and vaccines in the U.S.