HEALTHCARE SUPPLY CHAINS
Logistics that address the risks of supply
The Covid-19 pandemic is teaching us many lessons related to what healthcare supply chains of the future will need to look like to overcome challenges like the ones we’re facing now, writes Eelco Dijkstra, Global Head of Sales for Healthcare, CEVA Logistics.
O
ver the past nearly two years, we witnessed a number of compounding disruptions, and some analysts believe it could take years before global supply chains become balanced. In the healthcare industry, supply chain disruptions are also present and there are lessons to be learned in how to
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better mitigate future risks. First, governmental departments of health responsible for the public hospital systems will be rethinking their sourcing strategies. Where a few years ago the strategy might have been to source from anywhere in the world for as low as possible, it’s likely that procurement departments will now be looking
more to source from producers closer to home rather than from far away. Another topic of discussion is likely going to be that of inventory levels. Over the past 10 years, there was a trend to hold little inventory with only a small safety stock. It was a buyer’s market for logistics and transportation services which meant rates were low and capacity was high.
