Pharma companies, strongly oriented towards exports, find in technological innovation a strategic ally for optimizing processes along the supply chain
In a complex economic context marked by the international crisis, Italian industry experienced a stalemate, closing 2011 with zero growth compared to the previous year. If 2012 did not start under the best auspices, a certain differentiation according to sector should be highlighted within the manufacturing panorama, due to the different flexibility and the ability to respond quickly to the constantly evolving competitive framework, extending its supply chain beyond national borders towards more attractive and profitable markets.
The pharmaceutical sector, in particular, has demonstrated its ability to cope with the unfavorable period: although it recorded minimal year-on-year growth (+0.3%), in December 2011 the increase was 10% compared to the same period of 2010 These results, published in the latest Assinform Report, can be traced back to the peculiarities of Italian Pharma, a market that has been based on exports for over ten years (the 85% of production is determined precisely by sales in foreign territories) and which is therefore strongly conditioned by the trend of international economies, rather than by the state of health of our country. The volume of exports also bears witness to the high degree of competitiveness of the sector which, made up of 334 companies including producers of raw materials and medicinal specialties, is the second largest in Europe in terms of number of operators.
The prospects on the domestic market remain, however, not very encouraging: prices have continued to fall, further eroding unit margins, the actions to contain public expenditure in the last part of the year have caused a restrictive effect on pharmaceutical expenditure and the many patent expiries will further affect the profitability of the sector. Especially in the light of these economic scenarios, information systems represent a valid ally for pharmaceutical companies both in support of internationalization processes and with the aim of achieving a higher level of efficiency along the entire production chain. For example, content management is gaining in importance to manage product data and the exchange of information, structured and unstructured, within an increasingly extended value chain, creating the need for additional layers of middleware and higher levels of integration.
In the pharmaceutical sector, this is a particularly felt area since product traceability and data security, driven by the need to comply with regulations, as well as the transmission of knowledge are critical factors for business development. The increasingly widespread implementation of collaboration tools also falls within this perspective, which make it possible to share information within the organization
