Efficient Procurement and Logistics Planning in the Life Sciences Industry

Clarissa Biddle, Supply Chain Leader: The life sciences industry is already a complex and highly specialized industry.  We have seen a trend where increases in diseases and chronic health conditions have outpaced the production in existing facilities to support the growing patient needs. That coupled with the strategic need to onshore production within the U.S. and lessons learned from the COVID pandemic have contributed to the construction of new facilities, from small- to mega-sized facilities.

Raj Komuravelli, Critical Equipment Procurement Leader: The life sciences industry is challenging and complex, with companies competing for market share as the FDA approves more and more drugs, so speed-to-market and quality are crucial. Clients are asking general contractors to come up with new, innovative methods to continually improve schedule and quality at better costs.

Biddle: The product is typically the drug itself, either before or after it is ready for final human use. These facilities have custom equipment that requires weeks to months of engineering to validate and verify performance requirements for their end product before fabrication can even commence. We see a higher quantity of custom equipment and larger custom equipment being designed to accommodate larger production volumes.

Komuravelli: Planning the correct sequence to set all pieces of equipment is critical. If construction companies are not proactive in understanding the planning of engineering approvals and production lead times, then it can be a major blow to project schedule needs, which in turn affects getting a client's product to market.

Komuravelli: It’s crucial to have early integration with the client and design team to understand potential suppliers of equipment with long lead times. Early procurement of the long-lead equipment is the key. Building relationships with suppliers of this kind of equipment is essential to understanding the impacts to a project's schedule. These relationships will help attain production slots in a timely manner when required during the pre-purchase phase.

Biddle: Establishing regular communication lines with honest conversations of current issues, in addition to discussing value engineering opportunities early, will allow us to plan and provide alternates when issues arise. Also, leveraging any formal contractual agreements to secure fabrication or pre-purchase of key components or raw materials of long-lead items.

Biddle: Manufacturing projects tend to be tied to speed and market schedules, and they carry higher risk for our clients. In addition, the equipment in those facilities tends to be much more complex or larger.

Komuravelli: Lack of proper planning for manufacturing projects can magnify a schedule issue that would be manageable on most lab projects.  It reinforces that planning and validating continuously is a must on any project.