Distrust slows supply chain

IT investments for supply chain management are most desired in the areas of customer (demand) visibility; integrated risk management, and global connectedness, says an IBM Global Business Services/AMR Research survey.

But the fundamental issue is trust, according to Hussain Mooraj at AMR Research. "Our surveys show a fundamental lack of trust between biopharma companies and their customers. This is a hindrance to information sharing and collaboration, which drives up costs and inefficiencies," he says in Pharmaceutical Commerce. Creating shared incentives is one way to accomplish this.

The need for collaboration has been identified by others in industry as well: witness the creation of nonprofit Rx-360, chartered to create a system that assures patient safety via supply-chain-wide product quality and authenticity enhancements, as reported earlier.

- here's the article
- see our Rx-360 coverage

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