How Technology Is Delivering Easier Compliance Within the Pharmaceutical Industry and its Supply Chain – Part 2
Vanesia Adkins • November 24, 2020
This article is part two of a three-part series where we will be covering how technology helps with compliance in the pharmaceutical industry and transportation. In part one, we covered how the IoT is having a significant impact on the pharmaceutical industry, making it easier than ever to focus on efficiency. If you haven’t read it yet, we highly recommend starting there. Make sure to join us in part three, where we’ll take a deeper dive into compliance and how it can help you reduce risk.
Now that you know why IoT is becoming a must for efficiency in pharmaceuticals, it’s time to cover how these technologies will help you ensure compliance. From manufacturing to transportation, there are plenty of regulations that a business needs to abide by to ensure compliance. However, human error can lead to mistakes, putting your business in jeopardy. IoT and technological advances make compliance easier every step of the way, and it’s a benefit many pharmaceutical companies and manufacturers overlook. Here are some ways your company can benefit.
IoT Helps with Quality and Consistency of Pharmaceuticals
When it comes to pharmaceuticals, quality and consistency are two factors to pay attention to in your organization. Starting with manufacturing, the right processes here can make all the difference.
Batches in pharmaceutical manufacturing can quickly become corrupted as they rely on several factors working correctly. Each step of the way has to work flawlessly and your machinery, potentially, has to work continuously. As covered in the previous article, we discussed how the Internet of Things helps ensure that everything on the manufacturing floor communicates with one another. If there is an issue with temperature or maintenance is due, your real-time indicators can notify you.
Not only does this save your team time and effort, but it also helps you prevent wasted product, delays, headaches, and, of course, money. It also ensures your business is on top of compliance regulations. IoT technologies allow you to be sure you’re focusing on quality and consistency more than ever.
IoT Helps with Documentation for Pharmaceuticals
Did you know that one of the most significant compliance issues in the pharmaceutical industry involves documentation? Many organizations lack written procedures or fail to follow them. In 2018, “the FDA issued 208 citations for noncompliance with 21 CFR 211.22(d),” which made up 7% of the warnings issued that year. The agency also issued 86 citations due to a lack of written procedures for process controls and production.
However, pharmaceutical manufacturers can work to avoid these warnings and citations by embracing IoT technologies. These tools can deliver information on events, concentrations, and variations throughout the pharmaceutical manufacturing process with constant monitoring. The technology will give you real-time information and backlogs of data, which provide teams and businesses what they need to keep advancing. In turn, the company can put together the required documentation to develop better maintenance schedules, process controls, production practices, and more general procedures.
IoT Helps Maintain Compliance in Transportation
IoT can also assist your company after your product is heading out the doors towards its final destination. Your job of tracking quality and meeting compliance standards doesn’t end when it leaves your facility. As with the manufacturing process, your drugs have to be carefully maintained to ensure they remain in quality condition throughout the entire transport until it reaches the end-user or you could run into compliance issues.
This type of technology on trucks and other transportation methods allows your company and the transportation company to focus on temperature, humidity, light, CO2 levels, radiation, and other factors. If a problem is detected during transport, the tech will let the driver, dispatch, and company know something is wrong. Integrated climate control systems allow you or the cold chain company to quickly adjust temperature or humidity levels, either manually or automatically. If an accident or a toxic substance leaks, a response can happen immediately to ensure the driver’s safety and those in the vicinity.
IoT also ensures you know where your product is at all times. You can keep up on delivery times and be sure that your product or inventory will deliver in the window promised. We will explore this feature deeper when we get further into the third article, as this technology can help reduce risk and theft.
Failing to focus on your pharmaceutical company’s compliance issues could put your business and bottom line at risk. IoT technologies help ensure you’re meeting regulation standards every step of the way, from manufacturing the product to delivery.
Are you curious about using this type of technology for the transportation of your pharmaceutical drugs? If so, we’d love to discuss your options, goals, and needs. Please visit our website https://magneticprecision.com/. For inquiries and questions, contact us at inquiries@magneticprecision.com.
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