Prasad Deshpande, VP, SCM
Biju Matthew, Head, Supply Chain & Information Services, South Asia
Eliminating the stock transfer benefits also helps in direct dispatches.
The phrase ‘change is the only constant’ fits perfectly when we consider the developments that the supply chain industry has been through in the last few years. Today, information is available at the fingertips with the internet becoming more widespread, ever evolving bandwidths and reducing costs. This has led to a knowledgeable and aware consumer base for every organisation. As a result, supply chains today need to be integrated and agile. Gone are the days when organisations in a value chain would work in silos. “With the advent of technologies like block chain, the industry must move towards integrating the value chain to provide a sustainable output for the end-consumers. Supply chains around the globe are under pressure to evolve and perform, keeping a holistic approach in mind,” confesses Matthew. Also, GST has had a radical impact on the way businesses used to work with the numerous indirect taxes and legal laws. “Due to GST, we can now consider having tailored supply chain models that suit customer needs and help in better integration with their supply chains. Eliminating the stock transfer benefits also helps in direct dispatches to customer locations,” says Matthew. The implementation of GST takes away the tax distortion from the supply chain. For example, the decision to locate a factory or warehouse will now be based on where it makes most sense from the valuechain perspective. Overall, GST helps in improving the logistics scenario in a country where logistics remains a major unorganised sector, along with opening new gates for increasing export of goods from India.
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Biocon is the first to have a biosimilar monoclonal antibody approved.
Today, Biocon has its mark made far beyond traditional businesses, having become the first company in the world to have a biosimilar monoclonal antibody approved in the United States of America. The approval for Trastuzumab in late 2017 represents a culmination of the efforts of the better part of the previous decade. “As for supply chain, adapting each of its functions, making them further capable of enabling the company’s biologics dream, has been the focal point of the company’s evolutionary changes,” states Deshpande. Sourcing for biologics has been markedly different from traditional procurement: the focus being more on supply assurance and risk mitigation than on cost. Capabilities in controlled shipments have improved remarkably with Biocon, today, being capable of delivering a wide range of temperaturecontrolled shipments across the globe. Overcoming geo-political equations has been a challenge and expertise in shipping to countries where cold-chain infrastructure is, at best, modest has been at the forefront of the company’s promise of delivering affordable innovation in the remotest of regions. Deshpande feels that GST is expected to reduce complexity, save time, cost and efforts of all links of supply chain. “The transition to the new regime has been reasonably smooth, and it has since opened up new functional areas in compliance and value creation. There is consensus that pharmaceutical companies would enjoy improved operational efficiency, reduced manufacturing & transaction costs, resulting in more affordable drugs,” he proclaims.
COVER STORY LEADING MANUFACTURING COMPANIES
CHEMICALS
BASF
PHARMACEUTICALS
BIOCON LIMITED
Manufacturing Today | FEBRUARY 2018
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