Smart packaging


The money smart


Smart packaging offers huge value to the whole of the supply chain. There are a number of recent innovations that can help optimise monitoring. Louise Thomas speaks to Ruud van der Geer, associate director of supply chain management EMEA at MSD, about the opportunities and future directions within the field.


ith a number of data-driven, AI-oriented and trending technologies already impacting the pharma industry, smart packaging is one of the latest developments to help optimise the supply chain. Offering benefits to manufacturers, suppliers and patients has huge potential to transform the way that drugs are transported and the information available throughout this process.


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Ruud van der Geer, associate director of supply chain management EMEA at MSD, is passionate about packaging. Currently based in the Netherlands, he has been at MSD for 16 years, initially employed


as a packaging engineer before working his way up to his current position. Particularly focused on Europe, the Middle East and Africa, his key interest is in the digitalisation of MSD’s logistics network, where smart packaging plays a key role.


The three key areas For Van der Geer, smart packaging can be divided into three different areas. The first of these relates to the operating model used at MSD, which provides multiple benefits. “What you see a lot is single-use systems in the market; we are changing that to reuse, reverse logistics and pay-per-use models,” explains


Packaging Insight / www.worldpharmaceuticals.net


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