Advance Your Internal Logistics to Improve Quality Control and Compliance

It's time for supply chain executives to rethink internal logistics operations. Your internal logistics includes warehousing, stock control, automation and storage systems as well as material handling, equipment, and information technology. Enterprises, particularly life sciences companies, are seeing increased demand. But as their production speeds up, many struggle to scale and manage their supply chains. At the same time, they wrestle with maintaining regulatory compliance and enhancing quality control.

The right quality control processes and procedures can cut costs by identifying and reducing wasted orders, time, energy, and materials. Additionally, companies face the challenge of optimizing the specialized processes within their warehouses. Internal logistics operations are complex and the pressure to continuously improve and find efficiencies is increasingly difficult.

As a result, companies are turning to outside partners to find the right balance between managing operations and labor. But engaging just any partner will not suffice — life sciences companies need a partner that:

• Understands how to scale operations safely, cost-effectively and reliably.
• Has the ability to implement best practices designed to improve quality control and ensure regulatory compliance.
• Can offer industry expertise in specialized processes.
• Provides key people who can ensure long-term success.

Teaming up with a partner like Canon Business Process Services — one that offers comprehensive, full-spectrum solutions for warehouse and supply chain management — is the key to scaling internal logistics operations to meet market needs.

Compliance and safety are critical components of warehouse management. With years of experience designing and running warehouses, Canon is well equipped to help life sciences companies maintain compliance with state and federal regulations while implementing strong security measures to reduce risk and help ensure their products' efficacy and quality. In addition to creating standard operating procedures and conducting safety audits, Canon offers staff training programs and solutions for improving labor management and inventory tracking.

Canon can also help life sciences organizations establish service level agreements (SLAs) and will hold itself accountable to those SLAs, continuously monitoring value, improvement and productivity. And as experts in both human resources and the warehouse management sector, Canon is uniquely qualified to recruit employees who know the industry well and have the right skillsets to drive success.

Life sciences companies rely on specialized processes in their warehouses and distribution operations. Maintaining efficiency as demand grows requires a partner that knows these industry-specific processes well. From adhering to Current Good Manufacturing Practice (CGMP) regulations to offering leading cold chain management solutions, Canon's internal management and life science logistics services provide this level of expertise while offering end-to-end solutions to improve operational performance, quality control, and compliance with industry standards and regulations.

For example, a biopharmaceutical company sought to reduce labor costs and improve its internal supply chain processes. The company partnered with Canon, which designed a streamlined and safe warehouse layout and delivered verified metrics on productivity and volumes. When it came to quality control, Canon also brought a culture of continuous improvement to the organization — proactively solving problems, optimizing processes and looking for ways to deliver additional value to the company.

According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, there are currently 11 million open jobs in the U.S. and only 5.7 million unemployed workers. Facing the greatest labor shortage in the last 80 years, many organizations struggle to balance fewer internal resources with increasing demand for products and services.

The lack of available employees has made automation critical for filling labor voids, but technology can only do so much. Many life sciences organizations have turned to third-party logistics (3PL) partners or staffing agencies, which can be expensive and often lack the qualified individuals required to work in a specialized vocation. A better option is to find a reliable managed services partner that provides high support levels while allowing life sciences organizations to maintain control.

Beyond extensive knowledge and industry-specific expertise in healthcare supply chain solutions, Canon's subject matter experts are skilled at building strong teams and supporting staff management. When a biopharmaceutical company was growing its workforce, Canon built a sustainable team of cross-trained individuals to keep the operation fluid. This was key to the company's future success, as the organization continues to scale and needs the right people and processes to support ongoing growth.

Life sciences organizations should be able to focus on the noble mission they do best: supporting the improvement of human health. By partnering with Canon, they can. Knowing that they're in good hands, life sciences companies can focus on their core operations.

Competition is fierce in the high-pressure world of biopharmaceutical manufacturing. One of the top benefits Canon offered a biopharmaceutical client was allowing its teams to continue focusing on their go-to-market strategy and product improvements. This client knew Canon would maintain inventory levels, help ensure that quality control and industry compliance needs were met, and properly address any other issues that arose. This freed the company from worrying about their internal logistics operations.

In today's volatile business environment, life sciences organizations need a partner like Canon to provide expertise on people, processes, technology and data. Canon offers a unique set of skills for the warehouse management industry and can help organizations maximize their long-term success by driving efficiency, safety, quality, and accountability in their supply chains and warehouses.

Learn more about how Canon can help you gain a competitive advantage by managing your organization's internal logistics operations.