IoT, AI benefit real-time pharma tracking

BOSTON — Real-time data in the pharmaceutical supply chain is better than near-real-time data. Panelists agreed on this in a discussion on leveraging data to capitalize on real-time tracking, at the LogiPharma 2023 event today. [caption id="attachment_57138521" align="alignright" width="300"] Sath Rao, left, moderates a panel on leveraging data to capitalize on real-time tracking with panelists, from left, Krenar Komoni, Bobby Criss and Diego Lauritano at LogiPharma 2023 in Boston. (Photo/Yael Katzwer)[/caption] Near-real-time data can leave a long enough gap in time that product can be lost, they said. “So having something that’s [in] real time and being able to act immediately on it is very crucial,” said panelist Krenar Komoni , founder and chief executive of Tive , a startup that provides end-to-end shipment visibility, real-time location and condition tracking, and active monitoring of shipments. With real-time tracking , companies can tell if their cargo is on a plane or sitting on the tarmac in the heat, Komoni said. “That’s the main benefit of real-time tracking vs. near-real-time, where maybe you’re getting data five hours later or six hours later,” he said. Specialized and personalized Detailed data that is visible across the supply chain is critical to protect pharmaceutical shipments — and ultimately provides the best service, said panelist Diego Lauritano , head of services and operation management at Sant’Orsola-Malpighi Polyclinc, a hospital in Bologna, Italy. “Hospitals are gaining that awareness” about highly visible data, he said. “And so, we have implemented … global software to read the RFID tags that we place” on nearly everything. Sharing this information informs technology development and implementation, giving users like Lauritano an opportunity to “give back information to the supply chain,” he said. Bobby Criss , head of data and analytics at Johnson & Johnson , stressed that multiple types of technology — hardware and software — should be used together to deliver the best outcome. “Oftentimes, people get confused when they use the term ‘track and trace,’” he said. “Some people think it means serialization and some people think it means IoT sensors, high-value propositions.” Internet of Things (IoT) is an internet-enabled network of devices with sensors, processing ability and software that allows devices to exchange data and coordinate operations. “By overlaying our serialization data, now I can know exactly which sensor is tracking the unit levels of that product, or [is] in that box down to the unit level,” Criss said. “And so, I see that as a promising future as we start to bring some of the serialization and these IoT programs together.” Incorporating multiple technologies Komoni said the development and implementation of specialized, personalized and high-level tracking is inevitable. Knowing exactly where a shipment is and when it will arrive in real time allows stakeholders to accurately plan the next step of the shipment’s journey, whether it is to a warehouse, a tarmac or a consumer. “Once you add AI to it … you will be able to completely rely on that data to make these automatic decision points from the data that’s coming from the sensors,” he said. “At the end, who’s benefiting? It’s the end customer.” In addition to IoT and AI, the last few years have seen the pharmaceutical supply chain increasingly using track-and-trace technology, Criss said. “So, when you take something like IoT and you start applying machine learning , start applying different exponential technologies like robotics and 3D printing, and you converge these technologies — that’s where you see incredible transformation,” he said.

IoT, AI benefit real-time pharma tracking

LogiPharma 2023

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