A smart embrace: Why companies need to package smarter

Frederik Dejans, global product & IoT director, Schoeller Allibert, examines why more companies need to embrace smart packaging.

Embedded internet of things (IoT) technology is facilitating revolutions in the healthcare sector. As digitalisation enables leaps and bounds in the collection and handling of patient data, benefiting everything from medical devices that monitor vitals to electronic health records, the market for IoT in medicine is expected to reach $13.3 billion over the next two years.

But as data collection becomes more common, the question emerges – is IoT being used as effectively as possible throughout the medical supply chain?

In today’s connected global economy, medical and pharmaceutical businesses are faced with challenges never seen before. The growing demand on supply requires increasingly complex logistics operations; meanwhile, suppliers must maintain the trust of end users, patients, regulators and stakeholders, prioritising safety, and transparency to achieve this.

In response to these challenges, bold investments must be made in digitalisation technology to create a stronger, more robust supply chain.

Embrace digitalisation

The importance of security in medical supply chains by nature requires many controls and touchpoints. Quality control measures and adherence to regulatory requirements, while vital for risk management, can cause delays or disruptions in the supply chain.

In high volume markets like medical and pharma, the cost of such delays can be substantial. As a result, investment in technologies that can provide enhanced oversight and transparency, harnessing data about shipment locations, is critical to success. Although the cost of implementing such technologies may appear high, the risks of negligence can be much greater.

To overcome these hurdles, many businesses are now exploring the benefits of digitalising their packaging by integrating IoT platforms. These smart solutions equipped to packaging provide hitherto unseen visibility over the supply chain and unlock sources of data previously thought unreachable. These technologies provide additional layers of operational security, and in many ways represent a revolution for the sector.

The growing trends for integrated IoT technology in medical packaging provides real-time alerts if products enter unsafe conditions during transit. In today’s globalised market, technology such as this has never been more important. Digitally connecting assets and having complete supply chain oversight provides a clear, comprehensive record of your products’ entire journey.

Schoeller Allibert packaging is designed specifically to meet the needs of the medical device sector. Secure, tamper evident, and traceable, these products protect medical devices as they pass safely through the supply chain, and utilise data in a way that makes it work for businesses.

Recognising that every supply chain can make smart use of data to inform decision making, many of our returnable transit packaging solutions can be supplied with integrated smart technology such as RFID tags. These provide a more ‘passive’ way for packaging to ‘communicate’, and in our experience, most customers choose either IoT or RFID.

These solutions work in concert with our bespoke SmartLink platform, which creates a network of intelligent assets by connecting them using a LPWAN network. SmartLink is an end-to-end digital supply chain enabler, helping packaging to be managed and controlled from a single point. SmartLink provides visibility over shipment locations, temperature, and humidity data to ensure product protection, and can be integrated with ERP data to help ensure expiration dates and shelf lives are respected.

Asset tracking technology can have the additional benefit of helping you achieve robust provenance. Providing a comprehensive record of a product’s manufacturing journey, from the materials used in its production to regulatory approvals, is easier than ever with the data supplied by connected packaging. This evidence-supported provenance provides confidence to regulators, healthcare providers, and patients; something that is particularly important for operating internationally.

More sustainable solutions

Supply chain oversight and proving provenance are not the only factors at play in modern packaging design. It's increasingly important that packaging benefits sustainability, by making your logistics operations more efficient.

Up until now we have seen the medical and pharmaceutical sectors primarily concerned with ensuring security and safety. However, as expectations for businesses to operate more sustainably mount, we are seeing more businesses consider how they can boost their green credentials through their choice of packaging.

Alongside its potential for connectivity, switching to plastic returnable transit packaging (RTP) grants access to durable, long-life solutions that are easy to clean to ensure hygiene requirements are met. Reusable hundreds of times before it needs recycling, plastic RTP provides a more sustainable solution to the discardable paper, wood, and board packaging designs that are in widespread use.

Keeping packaging in use for years at a time enables businesses to move towards a closed-loop system that is circular by design. With longer lifespans than single-use alternatives, returnable RTP avoids unnecessary use of raw materials and minimises the energy and material consumption of recycling, with research finding a reusable plastic crate produces 88% less emissions than a single-use cardboard box.

Smart use of digitalisation technologies like SmartLink can compound these sustainability benefits. Connecting assets can optimise material and product journeys and help to minimise container loss or damage. Not only does this reduce waste, but it enables operators to plot the most efficient journeys for products, removing the need for unnecessary journeys. Seeing the supply chain as a connected whole rather than siloed processes enables the benefits of an intelligent supply chain to make themselves clear.

The medical device sector can realise true gains in efficiency and sustainability. With new technologies emerging that provide better, more consistent data, the industry can achieve significant market acceleration while minimising its impact on the planet. A combination of digitisation and automation technologies, operating alongside equipment that can make the most of it, will provide the much sought-after prize of secure, transparent, more sustainable operations.