China's current pharmaceutical logistics is in the initial stage of development, many people do "pharmaceutical logistics" has not been clear about what is logistics. This means that from the concept of investment or business, people still have some misconceptions about pharmaceutical logistics.
Domestic pharmaceutical logistics status and development trend
Looking at the development of China's pharmaceutical logistics industry, China's pharmaceutical logistics has just started, has not yet matured, can be summarized by "a feature, two trends, three misunderstandings, four problems":
1, a feature
Currently China's pharmaceutical logistics industry, the biggest feature is: still in the supply chain, a single link in the optimization stage. China's pharmaceutical logistics started late, most of the pharmaceutical logistics projects have been or will be launched on the pharmaceutical logistics project is still stuck in the enterprise internal inlet, sale, inventory business integration, process optimization stage, rarely involved in the upstream drug manufacturers, suppliers and downstream pharmaceutical wholesale and retail enterprises, hospitals, integration, so as to be unable to fundamentally solve the duplication of transportation, bullwhip effect, inventory backlogs and other phenomena, resulting in the efficiency of the supply chain Low efficiency of the supply chain, increased costs of drug distribution, drug prices are raised and other unreasonable and a series of syndromes.
2, two trends
The future of China's pharmaceutical logistics industry, there are two significant trends: one is the integration of logistics to the height of the enterprise's strategic management; the second is the separation of logistics services and the main business, the implementation of specialized management.
(1) Logistics integration rises to the height of enterprise strategic management
Modern pharmaceutical logistics operation will be from the traditional wholesale mode to the supply chain management mode, with logistics centers as a platform, and manufacturers and other suppliers (upstream enterprises) and drug retailers and other distributors (downstream enterprises) to establish a market-oriented supply system, improve the efficiency of drug distribution, and form a relatively stable network of production and marketing alliances. In this transformation process, logistics management has risen from the level of operations management to the height of strategic management in many enterprises, and has been emphasized as an important element of development strategy. The formation of this trend for two reasons: the first is the pharmaceutical industry restructuring, integration process, the enterprise scale continues to expand, and logistics network is to ensure that business resources can be effectively integrated to form the fundamental scale advantage; the second is the pharmaceutical industry into the "micro-profit-making era", through the strengthening of logistics management to achieve cost reductions and efficiencies, with a view to achieving their own costs in the fierce competition. In the fierce competition to realize their own cost advantage.
(2) logistics services and the main business separately, the implementation of specialized management
Currently the domestic pharmaceutical logistics profit margin is only 0.6% - 0.7%; the cost rate is still as high as 10% or so, on the reason is because of the traditional logistics model of the operating costs are too high, so many of the country's large-scale pharmaceutical companies, such as Shanghai National Pharmaceuticals, Shanghai Pharmaceuticals, Nanjing Pharmaceutical, etc., are the original logistics business, assets and personnel divested or hosted to a third-party logistics company, and third-party logistics companies to implement independent settlement, mutual assessment. There are two main reasons for this trend: First, the professional operation of the third-party logistics company can effectively improve the level of logistics services, reduce logistics costs, and create considerable economic benefits for the parent; Second, the third-party logistics company in the parent to provide logistics services at the same time you can use the remaining resources for other enterprises in the community to provide logistics services for similar products. This is a huge initial investment in pharmaceutical logistics projects, can greatly improve the project's return on investment, to achieve intensive operation. It can be predicted that: in the pharmaceutical logistics more and more attention in the future, we will see more and more of these main and auxiliary separation, specialized operations management model.
3, three misunderstandings
(1) small and medium-sized enterprises do not need to integrate logistics
According to industry statistics, the current national pharmaceutical wholesalers 16,500, nearly 140,000 retailers, the country's total number of retail drugstores 120,000, more than 6,300 drug manufacturers. More than 95% of these enterprises are small and medium-sized pharmaceutical enterprises, and at the same time that small and medium-sized pharmaceutical enterprises do not need to carry out logistics integration is a major misunderstanding of China's current pharmaceutical logistics development process. Although small and medium-sized pharmaceutical enterprises in the investment can not be compared with large enterprises, can not become a leader in supply chain integration, but as part of the current pharmaceutical supply system, any supply chain optimization project can not be separated from this link. In the future, when China's pharmaceutical supply chain integration will gradually be emphasized, any member of the supply chain would also like to have such a strategic partner to participate in the project in order to ****together explore the way to success. As a matter of fact, small and medium-sized pharmaceutical enterprises can carry out logistics integration at two levels in order to improve logistics service level and reduce logistics costs. First, at the operational level, actively optimize internal operational processes to improve efficiency and customer service levels, and explore the cooperation model with third-party pharmaceutical logistics companies to achieve cost reductions; second, at the strategic level to actively participate in the supply chain integration led by large enterprises, from the upstream and downstream links to achieve cost reductions and service improvements.
(2) equipment and technology to determine competitiveness
that logistics equipment, technology, the more advanced the more conducive to strengthening the competitiveness of enterprises, the more able to attract customers and strategic partners in the construction of the logistics project on the weight of technological sophistication brought about by publicity effects, while ignoring the consistency and coordination of the application of the system, is the current domestic investment in pharmaceutical logistics, is another misunderstanding of the misunderstanding. The direct consequence of this misunderstanding is the logistics system, information technology, automation is not for their own "tailor-made", and the existing business scale and management level does not match. In fact, as a systematic project, logistics efficiency and service level is not dependent on the strongest part of the whole system, but depends on the weakest link. High requirements and investment in a single technical link cannot significantly improve the performance of the whole logistics system. From the point of view of strategic investors, business partners or downstream customers, more attention is paid to the reliability and integrity of the entire logistics system and the logistics of the overall level of service, rather than logistics equipment, the degree of technological sophistication. China's pharmaceutical logistics from the traditional crude to modern information-based transformation, there are policies and regulations, industry processes, business models, concepts, software development and personnel of these major obstacles, these major problems are not resolved, equipment and technology and then advanced is useless.
(3) automation to bring cost reduction
Automation of the role of reducing logistics costs are mainly reflected in two aspects: one is to improve efficiency brought about by the reduction of direct labor costs, and the second is to reduce the error rate brought about by the reduction of indirect operating costs. At present, enterprises around the world to invest in automated logistics centers have a high degree of enthusiasm, declared that the project is less than the investment of tens of millions of dollars, as much as hundreds of millions of dollars. However, the status quo in China is: on the one hand, enterprises in the state-run system is difficult to cut staff, and thus reduce labor costs, on the other hand, automated equipment to generate tens of thousands of dollars a day after the start of energy costs. What's more, due to the domestic power supply constraints, many automation equipment can only be in a half-commissioned state, unable to reduce costs through the scale of operations. Therefore, many companies face the dilemma of: automated logistics centers on the logistics costs rise instead of fall.
Caused by the above reason is that China's pharmaceutical enterprises on the automation of one-sided understanding. An advanced mechanical equipment operating system can play an effective role, with the degree of information technology, information management degree has a great deal to do with the enterprise itself, but many companies blindly on the information technology, logistics mechanization, did not consider whether it is really suitable for the actual needs of their own enterprises. In fact, China's pharmaceutical warehouses are completely unnecessary on the fully automated warehousing equipment, the reason why foreign countries to achieve full automation is because of their high labor costs, and because of their other supporting environment: policy, talent, business processes to achieve such a level. These two conditions currently do not exist in our country, so this logistics equipment, "fully armed" should be a gradual process, as long as the current situation for their own investment in the appropriate equipment is enough.
4, four problems
(1) supporting policies and standards are not in place
The audit system for third-party pharmaceutical logistics enterprises is still unclear. The state is currently on the establishment of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and other 11 regions of the pharmaceutical logistics center to give subsidized loans and other policy support. A corollary of these reforms is the pharmaceutical third-party logistics enterprises from the original pharmaceutical wholesalers divested, once divested face these new third-party logistics enterprises to qualify for the assessment and evaluation of the problem. But at present, the state does not have a new assessment and evaluation system in this regard, and the original GSP certification is only suitable for pharmaceutical distribution enterprises, for the third party pharmaceutical logistics enterprises GSP many of the contents are no longer applicable. The development of a new assessment, evaluation system is imminent.
In addition, the country has not yet introduced a unified drug code. The unified code can establish a set of tracking and accountability system for the whole process of drug quality, but for a long time, due to the more varieties of drugs, the country does not have a unified code, the name of the drug is complex, there are Chinese names, trade names, English names, Latin names and so on. This has brought a lot of trouble to manufacturers, hospitals, and especially to large pharmacy chains. This kind of coding of each self-contained system, in the information flow can neither realize the information **** enjoyment, also not conducive to the supervision of drugs, thus causing a great waste of resources. In addition, the lack of uniformity of logistics standards has also become a major obstacle to restrict China's pharmaceutical logistics to standardization, high efficiency and international standards. For example, the lack of uniform standards for drug logistics containers, drug packaging boxes, drug storage trays. Therefore, it is necessary to accelerate the construction of pharmaceutical logistics standardization. At the same time, adjust the pharmaceutical logistics distribution center license system and the scope of business objects, should be in line with international standards, the establishment of distribution centers strict access to the license system, the establishment of distribution centers under the distribution of sub-centers of the license filing system.
(2) overheated investment, too scattered, the lack of effective integration
From July 2002, Beijing Pharmaceuticals Corporation and the internationally renowned logistics design and production manufacturing enterprises Siemens Dematic formally signed a contract to cooperate in the establishment of modern pharmaceutical logistics distribution centers, the construction of large-scale pharmaceutical logistics centers across the country widely set off a boom. At present, the largest domestic sales of China Pharmaceutical Group, Shanghai Pharmaceuticals Corporation, the Kyushu Tong Group Co., Ltd. only accounted for the total sales of the pharmaceutical market 3% to 5% or so, at the same time, these pharmaceutical logistics enterprises in the construction of logistics in a single enterprise as the main body, presenting the point of more, large-scale, large investment situation. Design scale requirements are often 3 to 5 times the size of the existing business, and can easily be required to support tens of billions of dollars in sales. However, due to the domestic pharmaceutical industry supply chain integration environment has not been formed, the third party pharmaceutical logistics is not mature, each engaged in a piece of duplication of investment is the result of each are not enough to eat, it is difficult to form a scale effect.
Compared with the United States, on average, each distribution center can support the amount of consumption, China is only 11.75% of the United States; distribution centers per square meter to support sales, China is only 40% of the United States; an average of each distribution center can support the SKU variety specifications, China is only 24% of the United States; and the average handling of a single line of the order of the operating costs of China is the United States of America 2.78 times. Due to small sales and low efficiency, the operation will be in a difficult situation. Some time ago in Wuhan, a thoroughfare of nine provinces, there are four built and under construction of the pharmaceutical logistics center, one of the logistics center has been clearly insufficient business, plunged into the predicament of loss.
(3) third-party logistics immaturity
Since the divested pharmaceutical logistics enterprises have not gone through the general development process of a third-party logistics enterprises, there are a lot of third-party logistics capability deficiencies. First, a single distribution network, the distribution network mainly evolved from the previous routes and nodes of drug import and export, the distribution is unreasonable, not designed from the perspective of third-party logistics system planning distribution network. Secondly, low informatization capacity, pharmaceutical logistics informationization construction is backward, and there is no mature informationization program adapted to the domestic market. Many enterprises are not yet capable of using informatization to improve efficiency. Third, the pharmaceutical logistics enterprises use the warehouse, vehicles and personnel stacking method, to realize the manual-based commodity storage and transportation, personnel quality is not high, when faced with greater commodity throughput, efficiency, speed, accuracy and cost and other factors on the development of the impact. According to relevant statistics, the current domestic average logistics cost of pharmaceutical business accounted for more than 10% of sales, while the United States pharmaceutical wholesalers of the indicator is only 2.6%; pharmaceutical business pure profit margin of only 0.72%, the United States pharmaceutical wholesalers profit margin of 1.55%. Therefore, the means of logistics compared with the developed countries there is still a considerable gap.
(4) the lack of professional management personnel
Currently there are industry experts estimate that can really call the pharmaceutical senior logistics personnel only more than a hundred people. Currently the country in urgent need of senior medical logistics personnel about 2,000 people, which means that the proportion of medical logistics personnel in the community is less than 1/20 of the total demand, and with the continued warming of the medical logistics, the gap will be disparate. Caused by the lack of pharmaceutical logistics professionals are mainly due to three aspects: First, because many of the pharmaceutical companies on the understanding of logistics is still only in the shallow fuzzy concepts, so much so that many of the management of the pharmaceutical logistics is considered to be a simple addition to the pharmaceutical transportation and warehousing. Under the guidance of this concept, so that the understanding of logistics itself is half-knowledge of the senior managers wrongly believe that: high salaries to hire medical personnel might as well find more warehouse keepers and cargo transporters, so many of the so-called logistics talent is actually just some operators. This leads to the supply of talent is false expansion, so that the real sense, the demand for composite logistics personnel, strategic talent is not as strong as the original, which is not conducive to the cultivation of pharmaceutical logistics complex talent. Secondly, due to the entire logistics talent management process there are still a variety of omissions, resulting in the existence of direct or indirect loss of logistics talent, such as the traditional medicine logistics salary incentives are not very useful, the staff training program is not at all or there is but immature and so on. Third, departmental integration is not complete. Logistics department as a coordination of production and sales of services, often members of the strategic decisions made by the enterprise for a number of functional departments, so the enthusiasm of the logistics staff depends largely on the coordination and cooperation between the entire organization.
Pharmaceutical logistics strategy
Pharmaceutical logistics as a complex systems engineering, never overnight.
First of all it depends on advanced information, network system. In the traditional enterprise, due to the requirements of information technology management, but also need to be carried out within the enterprise process re-engineering as well as organizational structure innovation, because information technology is the pursuit of the overall optimal, rather than the local optimal. Secondly, it is also subject to social public **** infrastructure, policies and regulations and other macro-factors, but also depends on enterprise talent, capital, management and other micro-factors of support. Therefore, the need for the pharmaceutical industry to correct the concept of the traditional "transportation and warehousing" mode of thinking liberated from a deep understanding of the connotation of logistics operations and the potential problems faced by the implementation of strategic logistics systems.
Implementation of active pharmaceutical logistics development policy
To develop China's pharmaceutical logistics, we must first build and cultivate the pharmaceutical logistics market from the macro level, and make this market gradually standardized, legalization. To this end, efforts should be made to break the local protectionism, so that the pharmaceutical logistics market in a competitive environment, at the same time, the government should introduce the appropriate laws for protection, the introduction of the development of pharmaceutical logistics policy.
Pharmaceutical logistics according to the Drug Administration Law to develop the implementation of the rules, plug the loopholes in the circulation of drugs in the process of management, and further improve the macro-control capabilities. Pharmaceutical market must be an orderly, effective market, and disorderly, ineffective competition, will affect the standardization of the pharmaceutical market.
Expanding monitoring efforts, divesting the inefficient pharmaceutical logistics sector, and gradually realizing the socialization of enterprise logistics activities, to cultivate a broad and solid market demand for the development of the pharmaceutical logistics market. Establishing a strict access system for the pharmaceutical logistics market, restricting the entry of unqualified persons into the pharmaceutical logistics market, and controlling vicious competition.
Increase investment in pharmaceutical logistics infrastructure renovation and new construction, make full use of the national bond funds, foreign funds for the development of pharmaceutical logistics; adjustment of pharmaceutical logistics services distribution center licensing system and the scope of business objects, should be in line with international standards, the establishment of distribution centers strict access licensing system, the establishment of distribution centers under the distribution center licensing filing system, should allow distribution centers both Can be distributed to their own brand of network terminals, but also allowed to social pharmacies, clinics, hospitals, in order to improve the efficiency of the distribution center; accelerate the construction of county-level pharmaceutical companies transformed into pharmaceutical distribution centers.
Actively play the role of the government in promoting pharmaceutical logistics. First of all, the policies between government departments should be interlinked; secondly, the need for the government to develop appropriate industry standards and industry regulations to assist the industry to develop logistics standardization. Standardization of drug codes, logistics operations in the use of equipment, packaging, transport, loading and unloading tools, the use of pallets and other standardization, these need to be guided by the government and urged; again, the need for the government to provide funding, tax support. Such as the government approved 11 by the national bond interest rate of the pharmaceutical logistics center construction projects, Sinopharm Logistics, Chongqing Peace Pharmacy, Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Company and other enterprises to build logistics centers are among them.
Scientific planning of pharmaceutical logistics infrastructure
We need to combine advanced foreign technology with the actual situation of China's pharmaceutical enterprises, pharmaceutical enterprises, "small logistics" and social "big logistics" planning and development, and actively promote the deepening of the reform of pharmaceutical production and distribution. Actively promote the deepening of the pharmaceutical production and distribution of reform work.
The construction of modern logistics system is a priority, to change the traditional management and business philosophy, has been proved to be all the advanced technology into the production and distribution enterprises, and then through practice to improve and develop their own characteristics of the logistics system. In advocating the acceleration of the construction of modern logistics in medicine, we must still adhere to the positive and prudent approach, do not rush, can not repeat the scattered investment, duplication of construction of the old road, each enterprise or each chain of stores to establish a logistics center is very inappropriate.
Pharmaceutical modern logistics focus on suppliers, logistics centers, terminal sales network, a reasonable division of labor, integration, suppliers focus on product development, production and end-consumer services, logistics centers focusing on upstream suppliers, downstream customer service, through the logistics of large-scale distribution to improve logistics efficiency and thus reduce the cost of circulation; the terminal sales network focuses on the sale of drugs, provide professional health advisory services The terminal sales network focuses on the sale of drugs and the provision of professional health consulting services. The government should be the overall planning, the development of standardized pharmaceutical logistics development policy, the construction of logistics centers to grasp the rational layout, with the policy to guide enterprises to take the specialized division of labor, the road of development of cooperation.
Pharmaceutical modern logistics has a social, systematic, network characteristics of logistics functions, elements of integration is the development of modern logistics of pharmaceutical key issues. To use the policy to guide the reorganization of assets, management restructuring, technological restructuring and other various ways to form a joint, to the intensive and synergistic development of the new composition of the pharmaceutical logistics enterprises to give full play to the advantages of the Internet, timely and accurate information on the logistics dynamics, coordination of logistics outlets, to build up a national integration of the logistics network, maximize the savings of time and cost in order to win a competitive advantage for the supplier to provide quality services.
Establishment of pharmaceutical logistics distribution centers
There are a number of modern pharmaceutical commercial enterprises in the establishment of modern logistics have very good conditions, the key is to follow the conditions of modern logistics will be the integration of existing resources, and make its function gradually play, step by step in place, and gradually occupy the market.
Establishment of logistics and distribution centers, first of all, to their own distribution, facing hospitals, retail pharmacies and other businesses; secondly, to attract major suppliers and establish network partnerships with them, so that the logistics center to become a distribution center or transit warehouse for other drugs, expanding the function of the logistics center; thirdly, to expand from the distribution of medicines to the hospitals, pharmacies need to be related to the storage of the product, distribution.
At the same time, the logistics center not only realizes its own management informationization, but also helps the upstream and downstream customers to realize the modernization of the logistics management, establish the network, realize the online trading, computer ordering, order making, distribution, accounting, management, information processing, etc., to form a large logistics, and the formation of a regional logistics center.
The staff of the logistics center can be composed of the personnel of the above three parties **** the same composition, the personnel of the pharmaceutical distribution enterprises are responsible for the management. These logistics centers mainly include the management of pharmaceutical commodities in the warehouse, turnover, sorting and distribution operations. Through the *** with the formation of logistics centers for the overall logistics operations management of drugs, not only can speed up the circulation of drugs, improve the efficiency of pharmaceutical circulation, more importantly, through the integration of logistics management, can reduce the cost of pharmaceutical logistics.
Establishing a strategic alliance, pharmaceutical wholesale enterprises can integrate their unique corporate resources into one, to achieve complementary and **** enjoy, and make the leading enterprises to form a large-scale operation, reduce operating costs. The interconnection, division of labor, the integration of the entire industry chain, the formation of the supply chain as the core, socialized pharmaceutical logistics system, so that logistics activities gradually from the production, trading, consumption process to separate out, become a specialized business activities.
Speeding up the pace of integration of logistics resources
Through the restructuring of the pharmaceutical enterprises, the integration of the development, optimization of the internal logistics operation process, improve the logistics efficiency of the pharmaceutical distribution enterprises and the level of service.
One is to combine the various participants in the sales channel (manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers and consumers), the implementation of integrated management, to ensure the rationalization of pharmaceutical logistics behavior. Modern logistics management in the sales logistics is not only a single-stage sales logistics (such as from manufacturers to wholesalers, from wholesalers to retailers, from retailers to consumers of relatively independent logistics activities), but also an overall sales logistics activities, that is, covering manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers and consumers of the integrated logistics system.
The second is through the market to form a number of cross-region, cross-industry, cross-ownership and cross-border operation of large pharmaceutical business group companies. Through the integrated development, the realization of manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers or wholesalers of the strong combination, reduce logistics costs, improve logistics efficiency and service level.
Because the overall logistics level of the pharmaceutical distribution enterprises is low, therefore, optimize the logistics operations within the pharmaceutical distribution enterprises is also an important issue to accelerate the development of pharmaceutical distribution enterprises. Enterprises should combine their actual situation, the original distribution system to implement process re-engineering, effective use and management of existing logistics resources, in the rationalization of enterprise commodity transportation, automation of goods in and out of the warehouse and inventory informationization carefully optimize the management and improve the operational efficiency of the distribution center.
To realize the informationization of the pharmaceutical distribution industry
Informationization is the key factor whether the pharmaceutical distribution enterprises can successfully expand, while reducing management costs. As a link between the upstream and downstream of the pharmaceutical industry, the pharmaceutical wholesale enterprises than other enterprises need to establish modern logistics, relying on its powerful information system and hospitals, retail outlets, suppliers to establish information **** enjoy, to help suppliers, hospitals, retailers, supply, inventory, to provide services, logistics information processing has become an important means of improving competitiveness.
The development of modern pharmaceutical logistics must be supported by the construction of information technology to guide the development of advanced information technology; strengthen the bar code, GSP management and electronic data interchange, management information systems, and radio frequency technology, enterprise resource planning, global positioning systems and supply chain management and other logistics technology in the pharmaceutical modern logistics enterprises, so as to comprehensively improve the level of information technology management of enterprises.
Informatization is the foundation of modern pharmaceutical logistics, for which strong government support is needed to speed up the process of networking and information construction. In developed countries, the network construction has been very perfect, supporting the logistics information system is also very extensive, mainly the use of satellite-based global positioning system GPS, electronic data interchange system EDI, automatic continuous replenishment system CRP, electronic ordering system EOS, point-of-sale real-time control system POS, high-speed road traffic system ITS, looking for the car looking for the goods system KIT, the funds fast payment system EFI, and the barcode system to realize the rapid entry of information. As well as the realization of rapid information input bar code technology and online trading e-commerce technology.
China's network infrastructure is relatively backward, slow transmission speed, the use of high costs, resulting in many network applications can not be carried out, directly hindering the process of enterprise informatization; secondly, China's information technology is slow in the construction, the development and utilization of information resources and *** enjoyment of the low, there is a considerable gap with foreign countries. To this end, the government needs to mobilize funds from various sources to accelerate the construction of information networks, high-speed information networks and enterprises to achieve interoperability as soon as possible.
Logistics hosting in the field of pharmaceutical logistics
With China's pharmaceutical market customer demand is becoming more and more personalized, for customers to quickly and accurately provide pharmaceutical distribution services become an important way to win the market competition in the pharmaceutical distribution enterprises. At this stage, most of China's pharmaceutical distribution enterprises are still through the adoption of self-owned warehouses, fleet of vehicles to provide customers with pharmaceutical logistics services, and this mode of operation of the biggest difficulty lies in the high cost of logistics, customer service has always been at a lower level, it is difficult to meet the enterprise in the future competition in the market. In this context, the choice of a strong third-party logistics companies to participate in the logistics operation of the enterprise is the strategic choice of most of the domestic pharmaceutical distribution enterprises.
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