Evaluating the Impacts of Automation on Disrupting the Counterfeit Drug Supply Chain

Abstract

Counterfeit drugs have become a menace and a dangerous problem for human kind in recent years. The complex nature of pharmaceutical supply chain has made it difficult to control the proliferation of counterfeit drugs being consumed along with the regular drugs. The pharmaceutical industry needs to come up with answers to protect public health, minimize supplier risk, protect brand reputation and promote the integrity of the supply chain. In its report on “Combating Counterfeit Drugs” the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) concluded that RFID tagging appeared to be “the most promising approach to reliable product tracking and tracing.” (FDA, 2004).[3] In this paper, we will explore how counterfeit pharmaceuticals are finding their way into the supply chain, the consequences experienced on a patient level as a result of counterfeit medicine consumption and more importantly how RFID is of help in fighting this global crime efficiently. RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) has brought a revolutionary change in many industries, especially in supply chain management. Implementing RFID in pharmaceutical industry is a game changer for the pharmaceutical industry because of the ability it provides to efficiently and effectively track medicines from origin to customer, resulting in an overall reduction of the entrance of medicinal counterfeit items in to the supply chain. Not only will RFID technology use benefit the health industry, but also those at the warehouse level, by eliminating the manual work required when using barcodes.