The timely transportation of life-saving pharmaceuticals plays a crucial role in the pharmaceutical industry’s ability to operate effectively. Pharma companies carry out cutting-edge studies and clinical trials that require solutions for drug delivery and storage. Even the tiniest logistical mistake could result in a significant delivery delay, which would have an impact on both pharmaceutical businesses and their customers.
Pharmaceutical companies are also currently facing issues with the delivery process. Numerous factors might affect the last-mile delivery services, which are the most costliest segment of the overall delivery cycle. The best solution to this problem is route optimization.
Benefits of route optimization for pharmaceutical industry:
Route optimization is the process of designing the most effective route for delivering medications and other medical supplies to patients and end customers in the pharmaceutical sector. This technology is advantageous because it lowers expenses, saves time, and enhances patient care, among other things.
When optimizing a route, a variety of elements need to be taken into account, including the number of stops, the type of vehicle, the amount of traffic, and the weather. The process can be difficult and time-consuming, but it is worthwhile because of its advantages. nuVizz Route Optimization solution is a very competitive option if you’re looking for technology to optimize your pharmaceutical and medical supplies delivery operations. It is a practical solution to save costs and save time while ensuring deliveries are planned as per schedule with live tracking facilities.
Using delivery route optimization and planning software, healthcare organizations can optimize their delivery routes, ensuring that medical supplies get to their destination quickly and effectively. This includes planning deliveries from manufacturing units, warehouse distributions to end customer.
Problems with last-mile delivery services in Pharma industry and how route optimization can address them
The pharmaceutical industry has a number of difficulties with logistics. Some of the most critical ones are:
- Ensuring safety of temperature sensitive supplies during the delivery process.
- Managing vehicle capacity limitations
- Managing safety standards compliance requirements.
- Rising need for specialized storage.
- Difficulties with unexpected on-demand deliveries.
Route optimization can tackles these challenges very effectively by providing the following capabilities.
Route Optimization for Pharmaceutical Industry:
1. Create flexible delivery schedules:
Delivery schedules for pharmaceuticals and medical supplies require additional considerations like equipment type, maximum time of transit, availability of end customers to take custody of the delivery etc. Route Optimization Algorithms are used in the pharmaceutical industry to shorten delivery times and save costs while meeting all the necessary delivery constraints
2. Reducing transportation costs:
During the COVID pandemic the pharma industry distributed more than 80% of drugs and 90% of immunisations using temperature-controlled vehicles. Missed deliveries and redelivery attempts can dramatically increase the costs of distribution.
For on-demand, urgent deliveries, route optimization software offers cost-effective route planning. To avoid wasting money on unnecessary transportation costs, the system will automatically change routes and assure on-time delivery in an emergency.
3. Distribution of the cargo inside the truck is crucial:
Another problem that regularly occurs in the pharmaceutical sector is the uneven allocation of cargo across various trucks. When a delivery is urgent, a vehicle needs to be quickly loaded and sent to the delivery location. The truck might just be halfway filled while others are overcrowded due to poor preparation. The cost of transportation will be significantly affected by the increase in fuel prices as well as any potential issues with vehicle maintenance.
Additionally, while developing delivery routes for the entire fleet, the lack of visibility in the cargo distribution process may lead to additional expenditures. Correct cargo distribution must be used on all trucks to ensure on-time delivery to all venues.
Since routine optimization software ensures that the burden is divided evenly, these issues can be solved. The technology provides routes that are optimized to prevent additional expenses and human errors.
How does route optimization aid the pharmaceutical industry?
The pharmaceutical industry benefits from cutting-edge route optimization technology, to ensure on-time delivery of urgent shipments. Additionally, it reduces wasteful labor, fuel, and other obvious expenditures while maintaining the same level of last-mile delivery services. Tools for route planning and optimization are crucial for the future of the pharmaceutical business.
Route optimization solutions can be used in different forms pharmaceutical and medical supplies delivery operations
1. Hub and Spoke Distribution:
National and regional distributors of pharmaceutical and medical supplies can use route optimization for strategic planning of their recurring routes to customer locations serviced by their hub operators. Strategic planning using optimization can take historical delivery volumes, delivery windows and weekly frequency to generate route plans that maximize the use of delivery resources while meeting customer demand.
2. Prescription Deliveries:
With the rise of ecommerce, pharmacy end customers have also come to expect home delivery services similar to those offered by retail e-commerce sites like Amazon. However pharmacy deliveries have regulatory requirements that need to be taken into account while planning home deliveries. Route optimization can be used effectively to model the delivery constraints for pharmacy home deliveries to ensure high levels of customer satisfaction while keeping the costs under control.
3. Lab Logistics:
Lab testing facilities often use courier services to pick up testing samples from various collection locations and bring them to a central location for testing. These collection facilities have their own constraints in terms of pick-up time windows, vehicle requirements based on the type of samples collected etc. Route optimization can be used to plan the collection routes based on the demand from collection centers to ensure samples are picked up on time to prevent damage while ensuring that specialized vehicles and equipment are optimally utilized.
About nuVizz:
nuVizz is a leading technology company that specializes in providing innovative solutions for supply chain management and logistics. With a deep understanding of the industry and a commitment to technological advancement, nuVizz offers a comprehensive suite of software products and services that help businesses optimize their supply chain operations, increase efficiency, and improve overall productivity.
At nuVizz, we recognize the ever-evolving challenges faced by businesses in managing their supply chains effectively. We aim to address these challenges by leveraging cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning.
Whether it’s optimizing transportation routes, managing cross dock operations, tracking shipments, or providing real-time visibility into inventory, nuVizz offers a wide range of solutions tailored to meet the unique needs of each customer. Our intuitive and user-friendly platform enables businesses to gain actionable insights, improve operational efficiency, reduce costs, and deliver superior customer experiences.
