Packaging, supply & logistics
Smart packaging can help prevent products from being used in geographies where they’re not approved.
by the necessary infrastructure. Otherwise, technology can add unnecessary complexity and lead to inefficient resource allocation.
An evolutionary shift Peter Lynch, chief strategy officer at Stephen Gould, notes that medtech manufacturers are paying close attention to the benefits of smart packaging because RFID and NFC hardware is more affordable and high- profile counterfeit incidents are rising. What’s also evolving, he says, is the granularity of tracking, with component and sub-assembly-level items, rather than only the finished-device level, now becoming a focus.
Bobby Nandi, vice-president of operations at orthopaedics specialist OrthAlign, emphasises that original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) must understand where all their inventory is, particularly in the orthopaedics space, where instrument trays worth “in excess of $10,000 to $20,000” are being handled. To manage this oversight function, the company has been exploring RFID tracking of inventory trays. “We are exploring this technology in tray tracking to specifically know where all of our inventory is, if all the instruments are within the tray, if things are missing, if things have moved – the dollar implication of missing inventory can run into the ‘tens of millions of dollars’ for some of the large OEMs,” Nandi says.
Cate Davis, global lead for pharma and life sciences and business development leader for North America at Miebach Consulting, says “visibility, resilience and flexibility” are the key motivating factors in how its clients view technology for packaging components and materials moving through their supply chains. “When a company has RFID-enabled packaging, for example, they can track and have visibility into
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that supply and know how much inventory they have sitting at their third-party logistics (3PL) provider,” Davis says.
“Therefore, having this technology in place helps give companies improved oversight of their overall supply chains, to ensure they’re not going to have to shut down a line or stop production because of an upstream issue with any of their critical components.”
Regulation as a driver of tech evolutions
Smart packaging technology is playing an increasing role in improving supply chain visibility. Still, Lynch says its application is also being driven by necessity due to tightening regulatory dictates in the US, with a more granular focus on device components. “The FDA’s Unique Device Identifier (UDI) requirements are now being extended down to the component and subassembly level in addition to the finished device,” Lynch explains. Regarding packaging, labels, barcodes and human and machine-readable identifiers are where “a lot of this compliance burden physically lives” today, he adds.
Nandi highlights that RFID can also play an invaluable role if a company is subject to a field corrective action. “Regulatory authorities expect you to know where all your inventory is in such cases, so that it may be recalled,” says Nandi. “Smart-packaging-based tools will make that entire process easier, especially when a company may be required to recall millions of products or components from across the world.” OrthAlign uses different distributors for its products across different geographies, and Nandi notes that smart packaging can help raise awareness and prevent products from being used in geographies where they’re not approved.
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