India is one of the key countries for raw materials for the pharmaceutical industry globally. Indian manufacturers provide Active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), excipients, specialty chemicals, nutraceutical ingredients as well as nutraceutical products to the pharmaceutical companies in North America, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia.
It has a robust manufacturing industry, competitive prices and a vast amount of export experience, making it an appealing choice for global buyers. But, the sourcing process isn't solely about getting the best deal.
Regulatory compliance and supplier verification are important to procurement teams, quality managers and international buyers as well as cost.
When documentation of the product is incomplete, compliance is inconsistent, or compliance delays shipments, a low-cost material can become very expensive.
That's why seasoned buyers engage in a systematic sourcing process prior to placing an order.
This compliance checklist can help minimize risk and enhance sourcing results when buying pharma products online, or when sourcing ingredients from India.
In the last few decades, India has built a good reputation in the medical field.
The nation has thousands of pharmaceutical companies and is among the world's top producers of generic drugs and pharmaceutical ingredients.
Global buyers are attracted to India because of:
India's supplier ecosystem also provides the buyers with access to a number of products making it easy to source multiple ingredients from one region.
Having multiple suppliers, however, also requires buyers to take great care in assessing potential suppliers.
Not all suppliers will be equally reliable in terms of quality and compliance.
The buyer needs to specify the product requirements before contacting the supplier. Buy pharma & nutraceutical products online with complete confidence from a trusted B2B pharma nutraceutical marketplace.
Product specifications are unclear, which is a leading cause of many sourcing issues.
Important details include:
The more specific your requirements are, the more accurate you can be in comparing suppliers.
Even when the same ingredient is supplied, there can be variance in quality, manufacturing methods or documentation which can have a significant effect on suitability.
Having clear requirements at the beginning of the procurement process helps to avoid confusion later.
Supplier verification is one of the crucial elements in pharmaceutical procurement.
Just having a professional website and competitive prices aren't sufficient.
Buyers should check suppliers for licenses, certifications and manufacturing capabilities that will support their sourcing requirements for the longterm.
The questions to be asked are:
Good suppliers are usually open and forthcoming about their operations and will be able to provide supporting documentation.
The objective is not just to find a supplier that will supply a product. The object is to find a supplier that can consistently meet the quality, compliance and delivery requirements.
Documentation is very important in pharmaceutical sourcing.
When ordering, buyers should check the documents available for products to ensure that they are of quality and compliant.
Common documents include:
This Certificate of Analysis is especially significant, as it contains information about the product quality and test results, specific to a particular batch.
Documentation is useful for buyers to validate supplier claims and to minimize the risk of procurement before materials are placed into the supply chain.
If a supplier can't offer full or correct documentation, it must be carefully assessed.
One of the major factors which distinguishes good suppliers from bad ones is their quality.
It is important for buyers to be aware of how the suppliers are controlling the production, quality control and batch traceability.
Effective quality systems promote:
Lower risk of disruption in the supply chain.
Traceability plays a very important role in particular as it enables the manufacturers to follow the flow of raw materials in the production process.
Traceability systems can also help to determine which batches are impacted by a quality issue if one occurs down the road, and to act appropriately.
Supplier transparency can be useful to global buyers to gain information on overall supplier maturity.
Without some consistency in material supply, price is insignificant.
Manufacturers are keen to minimise production episodes and supply reliability is therefore a growing concern.
In selecting suppliers, look at:
The supplier that will charge you less but has inconsistent deliveries may be worse than the bargain.
Successful procurement teams tend to emphasize reliability in addition to quality and cost.
The lowest priced supplier is not necessarily the most valuable supplier. It's the supplier who's always here to support the continuity of the business.
There are numerous mistakes that can be made in the procurement process.
Some of the most common include:
While a low quote might seem appealing at first, there can be many other costs along the way due to lack of time, paperwork or quality of work.
Verification of supplier credentials enhances sourcing risk and may result in compliance issues.
Documentation must never be neglected.
The absence of or incorrect data can cause issues throughout the procurement process.
The price is not the only factor in procurement decisions that is relevant over time, the stability of the supply is also relevant.
Buyers can avoid these pitfalls and improve their supplier relationships while minimizing sourcing risks.
The pharmaceutical industry is changing thanks to digital procurement.
Increasingly, organizations are buying products from the pharmaceutical industry online to boost their ability to discover and source their suppliers.
Online sourcing, however, demands and uses the same care and attention as the traditional sourcing process.
It is good practice for the buyer to do the following prior to buying on the internet:
Suppliers and buyers should only implement online sourcing when they want to look beyond the lowest price for supplier quality and compliance.
Digital procurement should not be a substitute for good supplier vetting.
As the nutraceutical industry expands, there is a need for quality ingredients.
Consequently, numerous buyers today are turning to specialized nutraceutical marketplace platform to find suppliers and compare and contrast sourcing options.
These platforms can assist buyers:
It is important to note that the same rules of sourcing apply to ingredients used in nutraceuticals as it does for pharmaceutical ingredients.
Quality, transparency, traceability and supplier credibility continue to be key issues when selecting suppliers.
One of the most difficult aspects of pharmaceutical procurement is identifying reliable suppliers.
ChemDmart makes this process easier for the buyer connecting them with suppliers of pharmaceutical, chemical, biotech and nutraceutical sectors.
With its digital sourcing ecosystem, ChemDmart provides procurement teams with the following features:
For pharmaceutical buyers, as well as those of APIs, specialty chemicals, and nutraceuticals, centralized supplier information is useful in helping to inform sourcing decisions.
With a very competitive and regulated market, procurement visibility is a huge plus.
India can provide excellent sources for pharma raw materials, but there is more to it than just the cheap nature of the raw materials.
This includes verification of the supplier, document checking, quality checking, and transparent supply chain.
A formal approach of sourcing will enable the organization to reduce risks, improve supplier relationships, and procurement success.
As the purchasing of the pharma products has become increasingly popular through digital means, it becomes important to evaluate the supplier.
Compliance, visibility, and informed supplier selection, rather than just cost, make the best sourcing decision.
