Multi-echelon inventory optimization is a proven vehicle to gain a competitive advantage by reducing inventory and improving service levels. Life sciences companies benefit especially, due to their typically complex supply chains, SKU proliferation and demanding service level goals.
 
Supply chain teams in pharmaceuticals and medical device manufacturing should strive to:
- Build executive support within supply-side procurement, manufacturing, distribution, sales and marketing, finance, and strategic planning. Create a shared understanding of the supply chain and make inventory-related KPIs visible among business units.
- Learn your organization’s planning process, from the strategic policy-setting level through the tactical planning level to the execution phase. Support each of these phases and cater to the different users in each.
- Think “multi-echelon.” Your multi-stage, international supply chain will shift and change in reaction to events. Factor in the global nature of your life sciences business and select a technology that can reliably reduce end-to-end inventories across functions and facilities.
- Use the knowledge of planners and have them validate IO results on an ongoing basis. When planners take ownership of the numbers, they will not revert to simplistic methods.
- Move fast! Take advantage of the fact that inventory optimization solutions do not require massive integrations.
- Don’t wait for a single system solution. Because life sciences supply chain networks are vast and diverse, set up your MEIO initiative to use data from multiple platforms and systems