Atlanta, GA, US: Healthcare executives in the US, Europe and Asia are intent on investing in their supply chains to increase their competitiveness, according to a new UPS survey.
The annual survey, known as the UPS Pain in the (Supply) Chain survey, questioned senior-level healthcare supply chain executives at pharmaceutical, biotech and medical device companies in the US, Europe and Asia.
There were key differences in supply chain concerns. Companies in Asia were much more concerned about product security as a supply chain issue, with 71% reporting high concern versus 53% in the US and 51% in Europe. Product damage and spoilage was a much larger issue of concern in Asia and the US than in Europe, with 70% and 67% of Asian and US companies respectively reporting concerns versus only 27% in Europe.
With extended supply chains due to globalisation and the introduction of more specialized products into the marketplace, concerns over regulatory compliance, product integrity and security all remained at the top of supply chain concerns again this year.
Regulatory compliance is the primary supply chain concern cited by 73% of respondents. Product security was cited as a concern by 61% and product damage/spoilage by 56%. Managing supply chain costs came in second overall, with 64% of healthcare executives rating this as a top supply chain concern.
Comparing year-over-year trends, companies remain highly concerned about the issue of supply chain cost management but report limited success in addressing this issue. Only 42% of global executives surveyed in 2011 reported success in supply chain cost management.
For more information on these findings and to download an executive summary of survey results, visit www.pressroom.ups.com/healthcare.
