Monday, August 4, 2014

Significant Functions Of Pharmaceutical Wholesalers

By Annabelle Holman


Wholesalers do play a vital role in any supply chain. In pharmaceutical supply chain, the most important transaction partners are the pharmaceutical wholesalers. They provide a link between manufactures and the pharmacies. They provide continuity in supply of medicines and also ensure availability of medicine relative to the demand.

These wholesalers will either act as full-line or even short-line. In the case of full-line, their main business is in the distribution of pharmaceuticals. Full-line distributors provide the most vital link. They purchase medicine and store in their warehouses. They then prepare orders and finally deliver them. They offer a wide range of assorted products, both in terms of range and depth. Short- line wholesalers operate within specific line of products. These wholesalers play six crucial roles.

They bridge distance between manufactures and retailers. This is because they link manufactures and the points where medicines are to be dispensed. They store medicine in warehouses. These warehouses will ensure proximity of the drugs to their consumers. This also ensures that there is consistent supply as per the requirements of the demand.

They assure high quality products. It is assured due to the fact that the law requires compliance with strict rules and regulations. For example, certain drugs may require being stored within certain range of temperatures. This ensures that there is better control measures put in place due to controlled distribution practices. These measures are aimed at discouraging entry of counterfeit medicines. It is crucial especially now when counterfeit products are increasingly produced and poses a great danger to humans.

Controlling the quality of medicine. Better distribution practices forms a bigger part of quality assurance. Nowadays, transport and storage facilities are being standardized in order to provide controlled temperatures for medicines. Relatively, industrialized countries have better regulatory and control measures. This minimizes the number of counterfeit medicine. Safety of the patient is the most important and sensitive matter in this supply chance.

Bridging the time of production with the time of consumption. The demand of medicine and its production is very different from that of other products. This is because medicine consumption is always in single units whereas production is in large volumes. Middlemen must act so that they maintain the balance between production and consumption. This is majorly achieved through storage by these middlemen and also through there logistic networks.

Providing value added services. Due to increased completion, there is a need to come up with strategies to with stand it. Drug distributors want to stand from the rest. One way of achieving is through offering value added services. This comes where they do not just act as pure distributors but try to offer integrated services. The center of these services is creating value at the both receiver end which includes pharmacies and manufactures. Some medicine distributors offer one stop shopping.

Lastly, distributors do balance the quantity supplied through the indirect distribution. This enhances efficiency and hence achievement of economic benefits. This balances demand and supply through storing medicine that are not in demand.




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