Pharma Sector – The Backbone of Country’s Healthcare Systems

Talk about coronavirus pandemic, you’ll hear countless catastrophes and challenges. 

Truly speaking, the coronavirus outbreak has slowed down global economy, caused production and services sectors to partially or totally shutdowns, and other large businesses and retail merchants are just waiting to resume back to routine once things get to normalcy.

In spite of the health and safety risks, presumably few selected sectors are working diligently and non-stop to fulfill urgent national interests, government demands, patients’ well-being and peoples’ important needs.

Running a pharma company around the clock, seven days is not only too much grappling, but problematic. With disruption in global supply chains and restricted export from countries of origin, it’s hard to maintain production cycles. What then? Besides product shortages, there’re other possible hurdles. 

All accolades to pharma manufacturers that are running their operations regardless of fluctuations in production schedules, shortages in supplies, limited manpower and possible technical bottlenecks.

As a pharma company when you manufacture essential and life saving products, then it doesn’t make any sense to shutter manufacturing operations in the wake of COVID-19. On the contrary, you may alter business processes, reduce staff, streamline shifts, shuffle production batches and delay projects and nonessential programs. But, in no way, you can close the manufacturing plant.

Well, when you have a clear vision to serve patient population, then, even in uncertain times, it becomes easier to continue operations and have secure production plans in place. 

All you need is to periodically consider current situations in order to evaluate multidimensional crisis and take decisions during prevailing pandemic. 

- Decide on what markets you have to serve on priority and what products are in critical demand as per customer needs.

- Recheck inventory levels and assess what materials are in shortages. 

- Oversee key payments and follow up receivables. 

- Review adjustable costs, penalties, financial risks and loss and take required steps to make your financing feasible. 

- Find out alternative and supplementary vendors for vital supplies. 

- Identify logistics preferences and delivery issues. 

- Find out specific areas to introduce stricter procedures for hygiene and equipment sterility. 

- Take appropriate initiatives to maintain workplace safety and well-being of staff. 

- Think what processes are pivotal to support business continuity and accordingly prepare a complete plan.

Find out in what manner HR can set up monitoring measures, shorten procedures, expedite essential documentation, agree for marginal manpower in certain departments, communicate 'workplace' rules and ‘work from home’ options, tackle health problems and recommend health services.

In the end, what matters most is how pharma companies take tactical perspectives on the prevailing conditions and continue their corporate affairs and operations without any issues and interruptions amid the COVID-19. Because, in reality, pharma sector is the backbone of country’s healthcare systems.

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