Gone are the days when the products were manufactured and delivered within geographical boundaries. With the global reach of the products, managing the supply chain process has become the biggest challenge for the companies. The process needs to be transparent that promises the product visibility to the customers. Operating with poor production processes can hamper a brand’s image resulting in lower customer satisfaction and loyalty. Fortunately, the brands don’t have to deal with it anymore. All thanks to Product Serialization. Every day there are new advancements that have opened the possibilities to make the production processes seamless. It creates digital capabilities which were not possible for many brands before.
What is Product Serialization
It’s a process where a unique identifier is assigned to each product item kept for sale in the form of QR Code, RFID, NFC and others. Once the products are serialized, you can identify and track the journey of each product with its assigned code using a serialization software platform. Be ready to create digital capabilities of the physical products. Here know how the product serialization can make your manufacturing process seamless:
- Make your supply chain process transparent
The supply chain is one of the major processes that should be technologically advanced to enable your brand and customers to track the product. But tracking is a bit common in most countries. Product serialization takes you one step ahead to accurately track each product item with unique codes assigned to them.
- Curbs Product Diversion Practices
The mismanagement in product movement due to the lack of communication between the stock vendors leads to product diversion. It is the situation when product stock supposed to be sold in a particular distribution channel is shifted to another without the permission of the first vendor. Product serialization effectively prevents this situation from happening due to the unique QR Code allotment to the products.
- Make your Product Recall Easier
A brand’s reputation is at stake if the products are not reaching the main audience. Sometimes keeping the quality controls in check doesn’t serve the purpose. The brand needs to conduct product recall to check the exact status of their product items and the distribution channel where their products lie. Product Serialization helps you to do a quick product recall and minimize the damage if there is any.
- Anti-Counterfeiting Solutions
Brands make constant efforts to keep their authenticity safe, especially when counterfeiting is rising at an alarming rate. Cheap counterfeiters try their best to copy the brand’s product and sell their fake version to the customers damaging their image. The product serialization provides the effective Brand Protection Solution with its anti-counterfeiting technology. The brands will get an immediate notification if anyone tries to clone the product codes.
- Know how the product is performing
Getting honest feedback from the customers is what every brand looks forward to. Since product serialization allows unique codes to each product item, the brands can accurately track the performance of every product by identifying it from QR codes. This helps them to serve better to increase their brand goodwill.
- Effective product demand forecast
To reduce the scarcity in the market, brands must know which products are short in supply. There is a direct relationship between customer satisfaction and product availability in the market. If the customer is not getting their desired products on time, they will go forward with another brand. Product Serialization helps you make a better estimate of the stock you supply to each channel. Make an effective product demand forecast and make your production process efficient. When it comes to brand protection solutions with effective product tracking, product serialization tops the list. Customers are satisfied when they receive the authentic product on delivery. This latest technology satisfies both these demands along with other benefits. Make your manufacturing process efficient with LetsVeriFy product serialization technology.
Why is Product Serialization a Key For Digital Transformation
Today’s consumers can use Qr codes or identifiers on the product that help them identify and ascertain the authenticity of that product. Brands can use the same QR Codes to manage and track the products at inventory level, manufacturing batch level, and pallet level. The serialization in packaging will drive the digital transformation for businesses. It also leads to smarter supply chains and builds trust in products. When a unique identifier is allocated to a product, it becomes easy for people to track it in the supply chain process. The digital transformation not only involves generating an alphanumeric number or allotting a unique QR Code on the product packaging. It is much more than that as it goes a step further that involves:
- Putting the serial numbers into a system
- Generate digital records of the products to be easily accessed
- Generate a web-accessible link to update the product information whenever necessary
- Enables the stakeholders to interact with the item through its lifecycle
- Presents the product journey and reports the diversions
The responsibility of putting a “Qr code on every box” is well established in many industries. Serialization will have a positive effect on the security, stability, and reliability of the processes, especially for the pharma industry. The ability to serialize the products and track every unit in such an intricate manner will result in:
- Greater visibility in the supply chain and availability of the data to the consumer and beyond
- Better brand protection and increased trust in the products through anti-counterfeiting solutions and product authentication
- Enhanced transparency through tracking and traceability mechanisms
- Better product recall capacities
- Offering accurate consumer information, expiry dates, safe to use dates, and valuable information
- Better targeted engagement, offer delivery and pricing communication
- Surplus sales and location data for expanding demand, supply matching, and much more.
The Growing Need For Serialization in Pharmaceutical Industry
The challenges of the pharmaceutical industry are not unique when it comes to regulating the serialized procedures. A recent survey states that 59% of manufacturers invest too much time and effort in manual data analysis to prevent any issues or exceptions and to ensure that their serialization program is operating smoothly or not. In case of exceptions, around 58% of the manufacturers are concerned that their products will not reach the patients. If these underlying issues are not addressed on time, they will mount, undermine operations, and drain resources. It will ultimately lead to lost sales, expired inventory, stalled shipments, supply shortages, and irreparable damage to the brand and reputation. Serializing the drugs and managing the operations is a way for the pharma manufacturers. Now, most of the industry has to comply with the FDA’s Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA). Many pharmaceutical companies are striving towards product serialization. With the regulations and directives like EU Falsified Medicines Directive and the Drug Supply Chain Security Act, the aim is to encourage the need to serialize drugs to ensure safety and curb counterfeiting.
The Growing Need For Serialization in Pharmaceutical Industry
Apart from the pharmaceutical industry, other industries are slowly verging towards product serialization due to the range of benefits it delivers. Let’s understand:
Automotive: Component tracking to test uptime and control quality.
Luxury: Track and trace luxury products from raw materials to finished products in stores that confirm authentication and control the distribution channel.
Liquor : Tracks and reports product diversions.
Food and Beverage: Tracking of spirits, champagne, and other beverages to combat parallel distribution. Product serialization is extending the capacities of these industries and various other segments through protecting consumer safety, reducing the costs of the brands, complying with legislation, and enabling visibility and traceability of the products. For a digital transformation, serialization is the first step. It is a key for every brand looking forward to more intelligent systems to drive their future business.