You may be familiar with the adage, ‘To err is human…’ Yet, some errors, especially those caused by pharmaceutical product distribution relying on manual processes can have disastrous consequences for B2B buyers and their customers. When mistakes can place lives at risk, or potentially provide loopholes for product theft and fuel the counterfeit drug market, which is valued at over $200 billion, accuracy is essential.
Another equally crucial challenge faced by pharmaceutical B2B buyers is product returns. As pharmaceutical products expire, pharmacies and hospitals have to ensure that all dispensing products in stock have valid in-dates when expediting returns, in order to comply with regulations.
Ensuring that the right products are ordered in the correct quantity is a vital part of prescription fulfillment for consumer/patient safety, regulatory compliance and supply chain visibility. So how can pharmaceutical companies including manufacturers, wholesalers and distributors help B2B product buyers, such as pharmacies and hospital administrators, achieve compliance as part of the reordering process?
Secure the pharma supply chain with smart device ordering
The fact is that while 74% of pharmaceutical B2B buyers research products online before making a purchase, only 11% of medical supply and pharmaceutical manufacturers offer B2B e-commerce ordering. Moreover, 44% of buyers who purchase online have a poor user experience, as they continue to encounter errors with e-commerce ordering at least every two weeks – resulting in product returns, compliance conundrums and loss of revenue.
Since fewer purchases are made online, it implies that pharmaceutical products are ordered/reordered either in-person or over the phone, typically following a manual search through catalogs for specific product codes to reorder products. Alternatively they might use a shared dedicated scanning device to scan and order products. All of these are time-consuming processes, and some potentially susceptible to human error.
With 2D barcodes becoming a mandatory global requirement for the identification and verification of medicinal products, it’s only natural that pharmaceutical companies completely digitize their product inventory, distribution and ordering systems. This can be achieved by equipping B2B product buyers with a smart device using a scanning-enabled native app or web app, which in turn will help to streamline B2B reordering.
This scanning app and smart device solution is a convenient, cost-effective and compliant way to automate the process. It ensures an accurate ordering experience that is fast and frictionless with a simple scan of the product barcode – enhancing the users’ experience. As buyers can place orders through affordable and familiar BYOD (bring your own device) smartphones or company-provided smart devices, rather than spend precious time on error-prone manual processes, or using bulky and expensive dedicated devices. But to achieve these outcomes, the scanning must be high-performance and reliable.
Speed up pharma product compliance with future-proofed ordering
With high-performance smartphone ordering at their fingertips, buyers are ensuring compliance by replacing manual processes. Through a quick scan, users can accurately identify product expiration dates and track pharmaceutical Lot numbers, streamlining the process.
At the point of receipt, buyers can scan and parse individual or multiple Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) labels in a single scan – further speeding up pharmaceutical product compliance. The video below demonstrates how smartphone scanning can easily capture 1D or 2D barcodes, as well as record text such as Lot and REF numbers.
Accelerate pharma buyer compliance with high-performance scanning app accuracy
An enterprise-grade scanning solution offers pharmaceutical buyers a robust ordering/reordering and product returns process, which is critical in an already highly pressurized working environment. It also supports the need to track Lots and respond to any recalls.
With Scandit’s high-performance smart device enabled barcode scanning solution, data capture is fast and accurate in any pharmacy or healthcare environment – even in sub-optimal conditions such as low-light and glare, or inconvenient to access top or bottom shelves.
For pharmaceutical manufacturers who offer buyers a native app, Scandit’s MatrixScan enables barcodes from an entire shelf to be captured in a single scan, improving speed and efficiency. Augmented Reality (AR) overlays highlight expiration dates and other useful information on the device screen at a glance, which ensures industry compliance and provides convenience to buyers – which is not possible with a dedicated scanning device.
Download our pharmaceutical B2B ordering guide to find out how equipping buyers with smart device scanning improves product compliance. You’ll also discover how it also increases revenue and delivers a frictionless reordering experience.
You can also contact us for more information on how Scandit’s smart data capture solution can help you empower B2B buyers with a convenient and compliant ordering solution.
