A new survey conducted by NiceLabel has highlighted the increasing importance of a single, integrated label management system for the pharmaceutical industry.
The survey of 100 key decision makers revealed the challenges experienced by pharmaceutical manufacturers as they try to produce accurate, compliant labels, and highlights the increasing importance of a single, integrated label management system.
The respondents who were involved in the selection and purchase of label management systems in the pharma and biopharma industries uncovered the key challenges facing pharmaceutical manufacturers.
The most common challenges were document control, integrating label management systems with ERP/MES and other systems, web printing and scalability. Fragmented production environment that often involves managing various products, locations and markets was also reported as a barrier.
One of the overarching themes emerging from the survey was the need for a single, centralized platform for label design, change control, printing, integration and management to overcome the challeges:
NiceLabel marketing vice president Ken Moir said: “Only 14% of those surveyed have achieved 100% integration with their MES/ERP system. Over 34% are still using separate systems to manage their labeling and marking printers.
“Having disconnected systems makes it extremely difficult to update and maintain label databases, and it means pharmaceutical manufacturers are missing out on the productivity and quality gains that can come from a fully-integrated label management solution.
“Ultimately it comes down to the safety of their customers, who can be adversely impacted by inaccurate label information. This is just one of the major risks that a modern label management system can help mitigate.”
The survey also revealed that not only are labelling solutions challenges for pharmaceutical-players, but compliance upcoming regulations are also on top-of-mind for them. About 80% of the responders stated that compliance with regulations is their number driving factor, when it comes to selecting label management software.
More than 60% of the respondents stated that familiarity with the pharma industry and its compliance requirements was also an important factor to consider a new labelling system provider.
