Pharma 4.0: How technology is revolutionizing the pharmaceutical sector

The new technologies introduced by the digital revolution are changing the business paradigm of industries, providing a variety of advantages to optimize processes that in the past used to be manual and repetitive for workers, but also insufficient to provide an efficient and satisfactory experience to the customer.

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Today, information is highly valued, and whoever manages it best is the one who leads the market, standing at the forefront. In this sense, the evidence shows how technology is also revolutionizing the pharmaceutical sector based on digital innovations that are driving new ways of connecting with health personnel and patients.

Regardless of the industry to which they belong, companies are betting on the implementation of technological solutions, focused on product design, manufacturing, supply, and customer experience. In the case of the pharmaceutical industry, the adaptation to implement technologies is not the exception.

A specific example of emerging technology in the pharmaceutical industry is Pharma 4.0, which we will talk about in this opportunity.

The technological revolution is hand in hand with pharma 4.0 in the pharmaceutical sector

The term pharma 4.0 is strongly linked to the principles of the technological revolution of industry 4.0, better known as the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The digital tools that make up the broad spectrum of this phenomenon include advanced data analytics such as Big Data, the Internet of Things, and artificial intelligence.

Currently, and precisely since the paradigm shift that industry 4.0 meant, technology is revolutionizing the pharmaceutical sector with the incorporation of pharma 4.0, which seeks to redesign the business model of the industry to introduce improvements in processes, adding value to tasks and make them more efficient.

The purpose of pharma 4.0 is to introduce product improvements that benefit both pharmaceutical companies and the patients linked to them. Drugs and medical instruments are products and services that directly influence the health of society, so the application of this new technology will create growth opportunities, not only for the sector but also for people who improve their condition and quality of life thanks to this tool.

According to a study carried out by Accenture for the Top Voice of the Pharma sector, the key to providing greater operational efficiency and personalization of experiences is, for 90% of executives, innovation with technologies that apply artificial intelligence.

In this context, more than half of the pharmaceutical experts assume that digital technology is essential to develop the current activity within the sector, so not incorporating the different available tools and taking the trouble to learn how to handle them is not a valid option if progress is sought.

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The 4 pillars of pharma 4.0

The pillars of pharma 4.0 are summarized in the application of improvements in 4 fields of business activity: human resources, processes, information systems, and culture.

Human Resources

Pharma 4.0 automation systems in the production line allow more efficient results to be achieved in tasks, adding greater precision and autonomy than through human labor.

This represents a challenge for the human resources area because it requires the resignifying of the hiring schemes since it will require recruiting specialized talents in the management of these technologies, instead of operators who carry out the different tasks manually.

Processes

Process improvement allows, among other things, the collection and analysis of data, favoring the optimal production experience and taking it to a higher level of efficiency with a notable reduction in errors. From this point, the data can be mapped in software adapted to the sector. In short, continuous improvement will depend on the correct integration of these systems and the results generated in each process.

At first, there may be some resistance to implementing such automation, especially in those companies that are used to using paper for everything. But with the rise of digital tools, these changes are necessary to reduce physical storage space, allocating all information to the cloud.

Information systems

Production lines will not only have efficient automation systems that optimize all processes but will also have real-time traceability and monitoring systems throughout the entire supply chain.

Culture

Pharma 4.0 implies a digital transformation of physical processes, so this will lead to a change in the corporate culture that expands to all areas of the organization. In addition to a gradual adoption of new technologies, it is a constant search by business managers to reinvent their business model to make it more profitable and focused on the experience of people through the use of technological solutions.

Advantages of Pharma 4.0

1. Personalized attention.

Through the use of sensors and digital services, patients have access to personalized care and treatment 24/7. In this way, biomedical devices add greater value to the pharmaceutical industry. This implies offering quality medicines that meet the needs of patients, but also information that helps improve people's experience with such medicines.

2. Information management focused on customers and prospects.

Data integration can generate better results in the interaction with patients in a short period because all areas will be aware of what they need and will have more alternatives to offer them in an emergency.

This will allow marketing teams to develop relevant strategies to understand the behaviors and needs of potential patients, which will help to have a more accurate record of the drugs that will be ordered from suppliers, avoiding the increase in stock with unmarketed products.

3. Automated processes to reduce costs and execution time.

Cloud tools have become important in recent years. This allowed saving on paper and manual work. In addition, it made it easier to store an almost unlimited amount of data more securely against information theft, although it is necessary to secure databases with strong passwords and take the time to change them from time to time.

However, technology is not without its drawbacks. Continuing with the same study, Accenture indicated that the 5 main obstacles that prevent taking full advantage of the performance of digital technology are: the high costs of planned obsolescence; lack of confidence in data security; lack of digital skills; the inability to apply technological integrations and the impossibility of innovating within an already pre-established system.

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In conclusion, technology revolutionizes the pharmaceutical sector based on constant process improvement innovations, among which is pharma 4.0. As its name indicates, it is one more tool of the Fourth Industrial Revolution that has been the center of attention in the business scenario, but that is rapidly transforming the way pharmaceutical personnel work, making technologies add value to their exercise.