Importance of Transparent Product Information for The Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Industry
The healthcare industry is experiencing data evolution in recent times, this forces medical device manufacturers to understand and master their product information/data to gain a competitive edge in today’s highly competitive market.
PIM solution offers complete business transparency starting with data transparency. This article elaborates on the importance of having a PIM solution in the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry.
PIM Solution in the Healthcare Industry
In today’s growing demand for health and safety requirements all over the globe, healthcare professionals are forced to set up the right provisions to supply all the products and also to comply with future demands. When it comes to the distribution and supply of medical devices or any other healthcare products, product information is the key.
Apart from the manufacturers, even the distributors, purchasing agencies, pharmacies, and healthcare units should maintain strong and traceable details of the healthcare products or medical devices. Almost every medical device or healthcare product has a direct impact on a patient’s health, keeping proper and detailed records of devices and products of the healthcare industry becomes necessary.
To gather and manage all those details, manufacturers of medical devices or healthcare products would need a single source of truth (SSOT). So, the product information management (PIM) system comes to play at a high level in the healthcare industry.
Here are the two vital actions carried by the healthcare professional using a PIM system
- Managing detailed descriptions of the healthcare products/medical devices complying with the standards.
- Distribution of healthcare products/medical devices to all commercial partners or departments involved in the healthcare ecosystem.
In addition, the PIM solution helps manufacturers in the healthcare industry to manufacture quality products by implementing the Medical Device Regulation (MDR). Also, PIM solutions guide manufacturers in a path where they can focus more on documentation of master data and enable transparency of product information in the healthcare industry through its centralized database.
Benefits of Transparent Product Information in Healthcare Device Manufacturers
With the increasing prevalence of the ever-growing online supply chain, manufacturers of medical devices are using new tools and software that connect their back and front office to the customers. In the world of digitalization, the medical device manufacturing industry has become data-intensive and digitally enabled.
What are the challenges in the medical device manufacturing sector where transparency of data can help?
- To identify new ways of offering value to the customers
- To ensure the safety of the patient by keeping knowledge of recent evolutions in the regulations and compliance of industry codes of practice
- Building cost-effective supply chains by investing in digital evolution for addressing any changes in the procurement or delivery models
Do you want to leverage the above-listed benefits for your pharmaceutical comedy by implementing the right product information management solution?
Importance of data transparency
To act confidently on certain crucial business data facts like customer or product data needs transparency of data. To achieve data transparency, implementation of business-led processes such as the ability to collect, share and enrich accurate information across the company and beyond is important.
However, product information can be fragmented as despite having advantages of data transparency, organizations, technologies or applications have their versions of the truth. In addition, there is no clear organization that is accountable for its accuracy, construction, or coherence.
Different ways to boost the medical device business with product information management (PIM) lifecycle
1. Improve the safety of the patient
It is crucial to have access to complete product information. This is important as it plays a role in the prevention of adverse events that might be linked to mishandling of the information. In case of malfunction of the medical device, it is required that regulators should inform their agencies through centralized reporting systems in digital format. These electronic systems ensure a prompt and suitable response.
A PIM solution helps in adverse event management by offering centralized controls on the accuracy, comprehensiveness, and availability of the product information.
2. Offer new ways for customers to use products and services
In the competitive industry, medical device manufacturers are always finding new and better ways to engage with their customers. It creates valued customer services along with the existing products portfolios. For instance, putting suitable products together in packages that are generally consumed by care environments or are used in certain medical procedures.
With a PIM solution, it is easy to configure, define and pack the services or products that are new delivery models or are solution-centric packages.
3. Minimize data errors expenses in regulatory requirements
With the advancement in technology and the healthcare industry, the codes for industry ethics relating to patient safety and care have become more important than ever. It demands business transparency. To establish the current basis for reporting, Regulatory information management (RIM) systems require accurate and compliant product information.
Information declared to any regional or local authorities should abide by certain organizational structures and rules. It must be established in a unified way to ensure comprehensiveness and coherence. Some examples of spending reporting associated with the pharmaceutical sector which is also into the medical device industry are the Sunshine Act and EFPIA code. Spending analytics needs reliable product information along with healthcare organizations and professionals.
In such a scenario, a PIM solution can help by offering business-led controls in the data of the products or services that feed compliance functions. This further helps to avoid expenses and penalties related to data errors.
4. Improve business transparency with product traceability of medical devices.
Medical device manufacturers are using global standardization efforts like IVDR/MDR. The adoption of such efforts increases product traceability as well as the safety of the patient. With the help of the Unique Device Identification (UDI) system, standardized identification formats are used that are generally represented by barcodes or RFID. This helps to track medical device manufacturers and their locations accurately.
With the help of a PIM solution, one can ensure that the packaging and product description have compliance with standards for identification, traceability, and patient safety.
5. Help the customer to find and order products easily
Make the ordering process easy for the customers and for which normalized product coding can help. Some organizations like healthcare and group purchasing organizations are using automated e-procurement processes. Such digitized transformations help to increase efficiency and minimize expenses.
In the medical device industry, it is important to have normalized data of the product that is obtained from data pools. It helps to reduce ordering errors. Some healthcare organizations are now making it mandatory for their suppliers to adopt GS1. In some cases, the buying organizations impose penalties for providing wrong information that results in a delay in their procurement operations.
A PIM solution in such cases can help by harmonizing accurate and clear product information with GS1-certified data pools and/or e-procurement platforms of the customer.
6. Educate the staff and customers
Providing up-to-date knowledge and accurate product reference data in a unique format ensures better learning management systems. It serves internal employees, other staff members, distributors, patients, and customers.
With the help of a PIM solution, organization and making the availability of information becomes easier. It helps in identification, packaging, description, digital assets, imagery, etc.
7. Make data-driven decisions
Making better business decisions and taking immediate action on the received data is crucial in this demanding industry. It helps in growth and has the power to change the business outcome. It is possible to gain better insights into the business with the help of transparent product data. With accurate, clear, and insightful data, businesses can anticipate many things rather than reacting as per the demand.
A PIM solution in such situations helps to organize products into various categories and several hierarchies. This further aids in a better decision.
8. Build better efficiency with electronic supply chains
Atomization helps in normalizing product descriptions across the company and customer portals. A unified PIM process helps to automate digitizing operations and internal processes along with other important processes like on-boarding of supplier catalog, e-procurements, remote management of inventory, e-sales, etc.
Do you want to manage your pharmacy products data with greater transparency? Let’s talk about PIM’s advanced capabilities.
Top 5 Product Information Management Platforms for Medical Device Manufacturers
Product Information Management tools for Medical Device offers a single, centralized solution for compliance and quality of the product information throughout the manufacturing process of the device. These solutions are modern software that facilitates data-driven improvement efforts. The product information provided by PIM solution helps manufacturers in improving the quality, testing, and safety monitoring or re-testing of a device once its design is completed.
The PIM software solution acts as a quality management system for the Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Industry. It aids to improve all stages of the device lifecycle, including its design, testing, regulatory needs, and commercialization.
Here are some best PIM tools for medical device manufacturing:
1. PIMCore
PIMCore is the best open source PIM software you can find in today’s market. PIMCore’s PIM comes with the capability of integrating both 3rd party applications and marketplaces effectively. The community version of PIMCore allows enterprises to add unlimited product entities, product data, and users.
Strengths of PIMCore
- Enterprise-grade quality Open source community software is free of cost.
- Best in delivering quality WYSIWYG CMS, Web CMS, and MDM solutions along with PIM Solution.
- Provides Strong ACL (Access Control List) & RBAC (Role-based Access Control)
- Highly Scalable/Extensible
2. Akeneo
Akeneo is a popular open-source PIM software, allows enterprises and organizations to utilize it free of cost. The Akeneo system comes with excellent built-in task management features that make it outstanding when compared with many other PIM systems.
Strengths of Akeneo
- Extremely User Friendly & Easy to use
- Comes with robust functionality
- Easy export-import wizards
- Easy to add new product attributes
- Highly flexible & featured rich
3. Syndigo
Syndigo delivers optimized PIM solutions by uniting manufacturers, suppliers, vendors, distributors through their contents. Syndigo acts as a content experience hub (CXH) and monitors all product contents efficiently.
Strengths of Syndigo
- One-stop tool for webpage content
- Best in data syndication
- Highly Scalable
- Easy integration with 3rd party tools
4. Agility Multichannel
Agility software is pretty simple to use yet it delivers a sophisticated PIM solution. Agility PIM solution comes with strict data quality and governance. The most highlighting feature of Agility PIM system is it puts your most valuable product information in stable
In short, Agility delivers offers powerful and adaptable PIM solution suits well for enterprises.
Strengths of Agility Multichannel
- Lightening fast speed to market
- Delivers quality content for promotional aspects
- Supports boundless productivity
- Increases internal and external promotional channels
5. Widen Collective
Widen Collective offers a cloud-based PIM solution and is a crowd leader in delivering the best DAM solution. Widen collective is best at serving mid-to-large companies with an excellent data-driven platform.
By using widen collective companies can enjoy seamless content/data distribution of data to any person through its unlimited portal. Widen collective can integrate with more than 50 apps and act as creative suites for project management.
Strengths of Widen Collective
- Good & highly effective built-in features
- Powerful API
- Unlimited Portals
- Intuitive User Interface
- Excellence in customer support & user engagement
- Best in offering supreme DAM solution
Credencys has proven experiance of working with Pimcore technology. Let’s discuss the capabilities of product information management for the pharmaceutical industry.
Bottom Line
Medical devices have a critical role in saving patient lives and hence, having transparent product information on them is crucial. With transparent product information, people can understand the specifics of the medical devices like manufacturing location, third-party supplier, etc. A PIM solution offers product information in a simple format for use by all applications and systems within the supply chains.
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