Pharmaceutical supply chain

Pharmaceutical supply chain and logistics explained

The Pharmacutical supply chain spans every aspect of medical production, from product innovation through to delivery to the patient. Our speciality is providing the real-time, accurate tracking high-value items and transit packaging from manufacturing through distrbution to the wholesaler or pharmacy.

Problems faced in pharma logistics

Even well-run networks struggle with visibility and control because processes are fragmented and data capture is inconsistent. The result is risk to patient safety, margin and service. Typical issues include:

• Visibility gaps that create blind spots, back orders and emergency shipments
• Theft and loss of medicines and assets that erode margin and trust
• Expirary and batch management that relies on manual keying and paper checks
• Returnable assets, such as totes, dollies, roll cages and pallet going missing or circulating slowly
• Chain of custody evidence for temperature-sensitive products that is difficult to prove
• Audits that take too long because data sits in spreadsheets and separate systems
• Seasonal volume spikes that overwhelm manual checks and basic scanning
• Process friction that encourages skipped scans and incomplete records

Benefits available to the pharmacy industry

Why RFID and barcodes change the game

Barcodes and RFID convert physical flows into accurate, repeatable digital events so teams can work faster with fewer errors. They underpin Pharmacutical logistics by making identification effortless at scale and by improving compliance. Benefits include:

• Pharmacutical barcode labels that provide low cost, ubiquitous identification and human readable failsafe
• Pharmacutical RFID that reads many items at once without line of sight for rapid receiving and despatch
• Bulk inventory counts, automated load verification and door portal reads that remove manual effort
• Higher read accuracy and data quality that strengthen GDP and QA evidence
• Real time asset and item visibility that reduces theft, loss and misroutes
• FEFO picking and recall execution driven by trusted serial, batch and expirary data
• Measurable reductions in dock dwell time and picking errors
• A complete digital audit trail that stands up to regulator and customer scrutiny

What is typically tracked

Coriel applies durable barcodes or intelligent RFID labels to the assets and items that move goods. That includes small cases and totes, warehouse dollies, roll cages, pallets and even wagons. Where appropriate, we embed RFID into plastic totes or metal roll cages so identification survives rough handling and washing. For high value items we add RFID tagging for fast identification and extra security so suspicious movements trigger alerts. Serial, batch, expiry date and condition data are associated at source and maintained end to end so every scan or read enriches the digital history. This makes FEFO picking practical, speeds recall execution and simplifies investigation when exceptions occur.

Dealing with millions of data transactions

Modern RFID and barcode systems can generate millions of reads and scans every day. corielTHINGS is our event processing and integration platform that ingests this firehose, filtering noise, resolves duplicates and converts raw reads into business events such as receive, move, load, ship and return. It applies configurable rules, timeouts, and location logic, making the system resilient to real-world conditions. With high availability architecture and elastic scaling, corielTHINGS handles peak volumes during intake and wave picking without throttling operations. Role-based dashboards and APIs expose clean, audit-ready events to your teams and systems in real time, enabling accurate KPIs and faster decision-making.

Integrating fully with existing systems

Traceability only delivers value when it fits the way you work. Coriel integrates with warehouse management, transport management, ERP, MES and quality systems so data flows where it is needed. We map master data, align units of measure, match serial and batch structures, and respect approval workflows. Your teams continue to use familiar screens while gaining richer, more accurate data. Our approach reduces change risk and accelerates time to value.

We work hand in hand with your WMS and ERP. Coriel software sits alongside, capturing events at portals, dock doors and workstations, validating them, then posting updates, confirmations and exceptions back to host systems. This approach protects prior investments, shortens deployment and avoids retraining your workforce. You gain end to end visibility, automated checks and better KPIs without replatforming core applications.

Typical products used with pharama supply chain