While logistics is often associated with getting things to consumers, transporting products back from consumers to manufacturers or warehouses is also a crucial component of successful logistics. Companies recover value from goods that were defective or transported in error via the reverse logistics method.
Joy John, Director (Air and Sea Freight), Jet Freight Logistics, expresses his views on similar grounds in relation to the pharmaceutical supply chain.
In the last two decades, the pharmaceutical industry has been one of the most consistent producers of products for the EXIM trade. Seamless operations combined with on-time delivery without temperature variations are critical in the pharmaceutical supply chain trade. If we go back to COVID times, our survival is dependent on the pharmaceutical supply chain, and taking the right medication at the right time was critical to overcoming the situation.
This area has a lot of room for improvement. When a pharmaceutical product can move at the required temperature without direct exposure to open air, temperature control infrastructure is sufficient.
Logistics is an important factor in determining drug prices. Companies can effectively control and reduce supply chain costs through reverse logistics and technology. The pharmaceutical industry, in collaboration with the freight-forwarding community, has been working on reverse logistics to find cost-effective solutions.
Companies can effectively control and reduce supply chain costs through reverse logistics and technology.
We are proud that JFLL is one of the few logistics companies that has worked as a logistics partner with the central government to successfully deliver COVID and Polio vaccines in the domestic market during COVID times. We have been concentrating on pharma handling operations (which are critical) and have prioritised every shipment until the last mile of delivery. All medical products, particularly pharmaceuticals, must reach the end user at the specified temperature and time.
In previous years, the government has aided logistics by constructing infrastructure. The government can encourage excellent chain warehousing and logistics providers, assisting the pharmaceutical industry in lowering costs. The GST Council should consider exempting all pharmaceutical exports from GST.
