Traditional pharmaceuticals are changing – the generics market continues to gain market share and advances in nanotechnology, stem cell research and other medical technologies are beginning to impact the production of mainstream medication. Consumer demand trends, changing legislation and geographic dispersion of patients are all changing the face of the industry, and indeed demanding the supply chain evolve with, if not ahead of,  such market demands.

“Supply risk is defined as the probability of an incident associated with inbound supply from individual supplier failures or the supply market occurring, in which its outcomes result in the inability of the purchasing firm to meet customer demand or cause threats to customer life and safety”.

Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) is a term that has moved out of the realms of procurement and has taken its place firmly within the supply chain lexicon. The concept of SRM evolved in the eighties as a term referring to a more proactive relationship between organisational buyers and suppliers where buyers understand and document the risks and impact of each supplier in terms of profit and business continuity.

Despite recent improvements, the sluggish South African economy continues to concern local organisations. Added to this a plethora of disruptive inventions and organisations are challenging nearly every industry’s traditional business models. Companies are constantly looking over their shoulders for the next Tesla, Uber, Netflix, Google, or Airbnb  - living in fear of becoming the next case study about a long forgotten business that neglected the digital transformation imperative.

E-commerce is no longer a future trend – it is a retail segment threatening to overtake bricks-and-mortar in even the most traditional economies. This business model has arguably had the single most significant impact on how modern supply chains operate, and with ever-evolving consumer demand – is likely to do so for years to come.

We asked our supply chain experts to unpack the concepts of drop shipping vs. 3rd party fulfilment centres as viable supply chain options for e-commerce businesses.