147 Words-Per-Minute (WPM): that’s how fast I can currently type, according to this typing tool. That’s over four times faster than the average typing speed. Impressed?
Lucky for you, you’re about to learn my secret: my accuracy was zero percent (a classic example of the speed vs. accuracy tradeoff).
This same tradeoff is continually at odds in pharmaceutical logistics.
Supply Chain Management and Quality Assurance are the two branches of your GMP pharmaceutical contract service provider most responsible for your pharmaceutical logistics (i.e., making sure that material is shipped, received, processed, and stored in accord with federal and international laws, regulations, and guidelines).
It is of significant importance for the Supply Chain Management group to process customer requests on time and with operational efficiency. At the same time, Quality Assurance is required to review items and documentation to ensure accuracy and that Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) and Good Distribution Practices (GDP) are upheld during operations. In most organizations in the industry, these two groups don’t work closely together. However, the dynamics existing between them greatly influence outcomes.
Although each group is naturally incentivized toward one end or the other of the speed/accuracy continuum, when the two groups communicate regularly and work closely together through integrated processes, greater balance is achieved. Collaboration allows each party to understand, and hence accommodate, the perspectives and priorities of the other. When this sort of balance is achieved between the Supply Chain Management and Quality Assurance groups at your pharmaceutical contract manufacturing company, it naturally encourages a more positive scenario (thus guarding against the 141 WPM, zero-percent-accuracy scenario).
Learn About BioC’s Integrated Teams
Stephen Zulkowski
