Janifha Evangeline | Monday, 05 December 2022
In the CEO Roundtable at the Fifteenth edition of CPHI & PMEC India, the Chief Executive Officers of companies, comprising those from RPG Life Science as well as Fermenta Biotech, held on the 29th of November 2022, spoke about the various ways for shifting the focus of the domestic industry from volume to value. With an aim to reduce Chinese imports and encourage domestic manufacturers, the Indian government should be setting up a separate ministry for the pharma industry, stated the CEOs who participated in a discussion related to some of the challenges that were faced by the pharma industry.
The leaders also stated the importance for reducing the dependency on China by leveraging technology. Director General Vivek Sehgal from the Organization of Pharmaceutical Producers of India stated that the industry should be collaborating & co-working & unite for a collective voice on IPR-related issues. Some of the biggest challenges faced by the Indian pharma industry include: Analyzing humungous amounts of data While pharmaceutical industries are exposed to complex risks related to drug approval, quality control, supply chain or even the different global commercial practices, the pharmaceutical industry operators require agile tools to collect & manage data well while creating action plans, in order to achieve this.
All pharmaceutical industries can gather data at various levels, and this includes maintenance, production as well as quality service & this step should be digitalized for gathering & managing data well while developing new action plans. Pharmaceutical industry can gather data at various levels. It includes maintenance, production as well as quality service & this step should be digitalized to be exploited easily. However, data collection should be planned well since this will help in eliminating wasting resources & the data collected must be both stocked & studied, for either feeding continuous improvement processes or to setting up maintenance planning.
It is important to note that data is a true pillar in industry 4.0 and in fact, it will help in better controlling aspects of an organization. In the pharmaceutical sector, data refers to all the information that is either entered by technicians or generated by machines. However, it should be noted that data collection is a crucial element for all industries which aspire to face competition. Furthermore, the significance of data collection mainly lies in the
organizations’ ability to perform analysis which can guide in decision making. Supply chain disruption All industries are facing supply chain problems as supply chains have witnessed an unprecedented disruption across the globe and in fact, it actually represents a major challenge that the pharmaceutical industry is facing. Although the managers of pharmaceutical companies constantly look to enhance the processes for maximum efficiency, technical contingencies may unfortunately lead to a delay in the whole industry.
Therefore, in order to reduce the challenges on their pharmaceutical supply chain, the strategies are changed & can help in making the optimum use of their resources.
The importance of Qualified workforce The pharmaceutical sector today needs workforce which not only has significant knowledge, but also experience, & skills. The pharmaceutical industry has to increase its investment in highly qualified workforce for continuous progress. The training workforce facilitates in acquiring the required skills for ensuring & enhancing their participation in their day-to-day tasks since it will also help in filling in the skill gaps, while the training will mainly focus on technical knowledge applied within the organization. This is all about the crucial factor which plays a substantial role in enhancing the organization’s productivity since the more a employee is trained, the more productive he/she becomes.
The road ahead Speaking at the inaugural session of the 15th edition of CPHI & PMEC India, Pharmexcil Director General Ravi Uday Bhaskar said, “the Indian pharmaceutical exports have recorded an impressive growth of around 5 per cent in the current financial year.” "Despite having global challenges, we have exported over USD 25 billion in the biggest market, which means about 30 per cent of our exports are going to the US," he concluded. It should be noted that productivity within any industry is based on the qualification of the workforce.
Hence, relying on qualified workforce is another essential element that renders a promising future in the pharmaceutical sector. Even if we are during a global digital era, it is incredibly important that organizations have to invest in monitoring software in order to enhance efficiency. Furthermore, the monitoring software will enable in seeing where the products are & what exactly is the supply chain status, while it also helps in predicting potential problems. Moving ahead, opting for this software will also help in playing a key role in enhancing accountability & will facilitate to avoid counterfeiting products to be marketed, on the other hand.
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