Mastering External Manufacturing Collaboration

Optimising external manufacturing cost-effectiveness while maintaining high-quality standards and regulatory compliance is increasingly complex and challenging. Supply chain professionals face a myriad of challenges that can significantly impact their operations and bottom line. Rising external manufacturing costs are squeezing profit margins, while a lack of supply chain visibility and poor supplier performance hinder efficiency and responsiveness. 

Supply chain professionals face a myriad of challenges that can significantly impact their operations and bottom line. Rising external manufacturing costs are squeezing profit margins, while a lack of supply chain visibility and poor supplier performance hinder efficiency and responsiveness. Meanwhile, ensuring business continuity in the face of disruptions has become a critical imperative.

Meanwhile, ensuring business continuity in the face of disruptions has become a critical imperative. While supply chain disruptions have eased since the COVID-19 pandemic, companies are still grappling with higher costs for materials compared to pre-pandemic levels. Inflation has emerged as a major concern for pharmaceutical companies, with 40% of industry professionals identifying it as the top challenge in 2023¹. This has led to increased costs for raw materials, energy, and labour, putting pressure on profit margins.

Regulatory compliance risks loom large, threatening hefty penalties and reputation damage. Stringent regulatory requirements for manufacturing processes across multiple sites and markets have become a major cost driver.

Lack of Supply Chain Visibility remains an ongoing challenge in 2025

64% of pharmaceutical companies report disconnected IT systems between partners as the primary obstacle to upstream visibility².

• Legacy systems at CDMOs lack APIs for real-time data integration, forcing manual data transfers that delay decision-making.
  
• Data standardisation remains problematic, with 73% of CDMOs using custom data models incompatible with partners' systems².
• Complexity is increasing with multi-tier production processes which would require access to granular real time batch related production and quality data.

Enhance transparency, trust, and efficiency in external manufacturing collaboration with Veratrak

Ready to transform your supply chain from a reactive, siloed model to a proactive, data-driven, and highly efficient powerhouse? Discover how the Veratrak platform can help you reduce costs, eliminate supply chain blind spots, and ensure full compliance with real-time external manufacturing visibility.

✔️ Enhanced Visibility & Decision-Making

Integrating with the Veratrak platform enables:

• Real-time visibility into inventory levels, production status, and demand forecasts.
• More accurate and timely decision-making based on comprehensive, standardised data.
• Improved forecasting and demand planning through inventory overview and advanced analytics.
• Foster seamless communication and collaboration across departments and partners, breaking down silos and enhancing overall synergy

✔️ Streamlined Supply Chain Operations

By standardising data formats and integrating disparate systems, connecting to the Veratrak Platform leads to:

• Reduced manual data entry and processing, minimising errors and saving time.
• Seamless data exchange between your ERP and your service providers, including contract development manufacturing organisations (CDMOs) & contract packaging organisations (CPOs).
• Centralised CDMO order tracking and multi-supplier/site visibility, enabling contingency planning.

✔️ Increased Efficiency and Productivity

A single dashboard to track and manage orders across your external manufacturing network:

• Enabling more efficient resource allocation and capacity planning.
• Ensuring consistency in data reporting and documentation across different sites and partners.
• Digital document management

Get in touch to discuss how to take control of external manufacturing and get real-time visibility, streamline supplier management, and eliminate manual tracking.

Sources:

1: Pharma Voice

2: Supply Chain Beyond