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AI Advanced Analytics and IoT Sensor Technologies
Four examples of life science pharmaceuticals companies that are leveraging artificial intelligence, advanced analytics, and IoT sensor technologies to improve the supply chain and quality challenges includes Pfizer, Merck, Amgen and Biogen.
PFIZER: IOT ON SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT and reducing counterfeit products
- CHALLENGES: Pfizer aims to improve the processes of the company by having full visibility in supply chain to ensure control over flow of materials and patients safety by providing tamper-free and authentic products.
OVERVIEW:
- The internet of things is considered to be a critical element to create smooth supply chain especially in large pharma companies.
- Pfizer is one of these companies that digitalize its logistics and supply chain by using radio-frequency identification or RFID in preventing the prevalence of counterfeit drugs.
- In fact, RFID labels were added in all Viagra bottles to ensure verification of the product's authenticity.
- "RFID tagging and product serialization" ensures Pfizer's control over the flow of its materials that will also ensure the safety of patients by mitigating counterfeit products.
- This highly-organized supply chain guaranteed full visibility that helps the company improve its manufacturing and distribution processes.
the MERCK: MACHINE LEARNING AND IOT ON automating supply chain activity
- CHALLENGES: The pharmaceutical company wanted to automate some of its supply chain activity "to improve its planning decisions in terms of materials allocation and product distribution. They also wanted to reduce the supply shortages and "predict spikes in demand" related to the company's fertility drugs.
OVERVIEW:
- Merck, a life science pharmaceutical company utilizes Aera Technology via its AI predictive analysis software to manage its supply chain.
- The use of machine learning predictive analysis, together with suit of sensors, the company has improved its inventory and made their distribution became efficient.
- With the help of Amazon Web Service, the software captures information on supply chain data that automatically transfers to Aera's cloud infrastructure where the machine learning analyzes data to make recommendations on product adjustments, forecasting demands, trends in patients health, weather and natural disasters.
- The pilot run of the system is said to be successful as 80 percent of predicted tests cases showed accuracy compared to what human experts can do on the same tasks.
AMGEN: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TO IMPROVE MANUFACTURING DEVIATIONS
- CHALLENGES: Amgen wanted to replace the manual and repetitive task of analyzing and understanding deviations reports with an enhanced tool that would quicken the process compared to their previous system.
OVERVIEW:
- In October 2018, Amgen piloted an artificial intelligence process that has the ability to enhance and find patterns "find patterns in manufacturing deviations and to prevent their recurrence." This process is aimed to replace manual and tedious process of looking at large data that has been missed using its previous system.
- Since deviation reports are documents that normally contains text, the company decided to utilize artificial intelligence tool such as natural language processing (NLP) to examine and analyze them. The NLP will also understand and "derive meaning from human language", including its concepts and how they are relevant to each other.
- The company uses agile development evolve its requirement and solutions via "collaborative effort of cross-functional teams and their end users". This involves a strategy where "each successive version of the product is usable and each builds upon the previous version by adding user-visible functionality."
- The implementation of AI tools in the quality processes of Amgen was presented in Xavier Health Summit in 2018.
BIOGEN: IOT IN SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT to prevent theft and product tampering
- CHALLENGES: Biogen face challenges on supply chain theft, goods that did not go to intended destinations where their internal process have identified the high-risk lanes where their product moves.
OVERVIEW:
- Biogen, a biotechnology company focusing on neuroscience, has been using IoT and sensor data through Savi Technology's sensors and software to manage its global supply chain.
- The Biogen director of global product and supply chain security, Lee Spach, stated that they have been using these technologies for two years to "provide visibility and added security for its shipments".
- The supply chain management includes items such as raw materials, finished goods or products in progress, intermediates that are moving. They put sensors on product level to track and monitor shipment movements.
- The Savi sensors has the ability to send alerts if items are strayed or not in desired destinations. Additionally, these sensors are also used to prevent product tampering and monitor environmental conditions to ensure quality of goods.