Implementing A Supply Chain Risk Management Process

By Peter Blok, senior partner, Pharma Team USA

To paraphrase a television news show catch line, “It’s 10 p.m. Do you know where your product is?” Every life science executive has asked this question in one form or another. And, most of us have wondered about the answer. This becomes a much harder question to honestly answer as we grow our supply and fulfillment organizations over multiple countries in our quest to control costs and compete.

Every executive can cite all the public incidences of product supply chain disruption and product adulteration. Most of us have personal stories to recount. And, all of us know the devastating impact these events can have on our businesses.

While we know it’s financially impractical to have complete visibility and control at all times, we do have concerns over the level of risk to our businesses and to the people we serve — namely, the patients. At a practical level, managing this comes down to ensuring our organizations are equipped to handle risk in all its dimensions.