The Life Sciences industry is just beginning to embark on a revolutionary transformation that other industries have witnessed over the past two decades.

The headlines report daily on mega-mergers and government health care reform. These and other activities we will see in the next decade will impact the healthcare supply chain:

• Information systems that will link drug companies, patients, providers, and payees will create tremendous visibility to drug/provider quality and availability, potentially changing the demand structure and flow of goods through the supply chain
• Big pharmaceutical companies buying smaller bio-tech drug companies to expand portfolios and allowing bio-tech drugs into large R&D structures will push SKU proliferation
• Pending legislative bills to allow generic manufacturers into bio-tech drug sector will help drive costs out of the specialty bio-tech development and distribution structure
• Competing e-pedigree requirements (2015) will drive systems complexity, forcing changes to Transportation and Warehouse Management Systems
• Expanding supply chain visibility, new specialty handling requirements, and growing SKU base with smaller volume per SKU will dramatically affect the distribution channels as we know today
• Many retailers or hospital groups that run their own supply chains will be forced to a wholesaler with these built-in capabilities, or be forced to spend heavily on systems and facility upgrades

In order to be prepared for these anticipated challenges, clients are looking to Fortna to provide real supply chain solutions that will:

• Assist Clients with solutions that meet business case objectives
• Create implementable, sustainable operational designs focusing on People, Assets, Processes and Systems
• Utilize Fortna tools such as FortnaDCModeler™ to drive inventory cost savings across the network
• Enable organizational and cultural flexibility through organizational excellence programs to respond quickly to changing business requirements

Expanding your Distribution Network? Multi-site distribution environments can be complex. Click here to read about key questions to ask when adding a distribution center. In this white paper you will be presented with eleven thought-provoking questions to help you understand the issues to consider and the stakeholders to involve when expanding your distribution network.