Navigating pandemic supply challenges Company Background MediCrystals Co. is a leading German pharmaceutical glass manuf
Posted: Fri Jul 01, 2022 9:00 am
Navigating pandemic supply challenges
Company BackgroundMediCrystals Co. is a leading German pharmaceutical glassmanufacturer offering a solution for theentire range of basic volume tubular glass parenteral packagingincluding ampoules, vials, cartridges andsterile pre-fillable syringes. They have multiple manufacturingplants in Europe, America and South-EastAsia. MediCrystals has customers all over the world and supplies toover 120 countries.
Changing LandscapeMediCrystals Co. aims to provide pharma vials for Covid-19 vaccinesto Payima Biotec (a global genericand specialty pharmaceutical and vaccine maker) and various othersimilar entities. They have signedagreements with major pharmaceutical firms to supply pharma glassproducts for the packaging of twobillion doses of Covid-19 vaccines. The vaccine being developedcurrently can only be stored in glassvials. When the vaccine is approved, globally, manufacturers willstruggle to source enough glass vials,syringes, and ampoules to bottle enough for the global immunizationdrive. MediCrystals manufacturesover 8 billion pharma glass containers for drugs annually.There's a glass shortage currently due to thesudden increase in demand for such products. Many of the suppliersbeing small and localized,MediCrystals needs to be sure that none of their suppliers arefacing business continuity challenges dueto the pandemic. Manufacturers globally are facing financial andoperational challenges; the demand isunpredictable, and there are concerns related to shortages andstockouts.
Current Supply Chain OperationsVP Operations at MediCrystals has hired your team to leverageexpertise around three critical areas herteam has identified.
First, the Manager of Procurement and Sourcing team has heardfrom the CPO that some of the criticalsuppliers are facing operational challenges due to the pandemic.She thereby, intends to develop a high-level risk scoring methodology or rationale to score the suppliersand review mitigation activitiescurrently in place. Based on the supplier data available, the RiskCompliance Manager has currentlyidentified two risk domains - Finance, Regulatory. As part of the‘Regulatory’ risk domain, she intends toscore each supplier based on the risk factors – Labor unrests, andEnvironmental incidents. She wantsyour team to identify other risk domains and factors contributingto the risk domains based on theavailable supplier data. She wants your team to develop acomprehensive risk scoring methodology andidentify suppliers that pose the most risk.
The marketing team has gathered insights regarding theanticipated demand trend for various SKUsbased on their product families. Your team as part of this project,has been requested to estimate thechange in the inventory position to understand the working capitalimpact in one of the most criticalplants in Switzerland, GlasWork. Based on the marketing insightsgathered, she also wants tounderstand the potential obsolete inventory that they currentlyhave.
And the third area of concern is to identify if there is anycapacity constraint for Fabricadas, the newfacilities in Chicago, due to the sudden increase in demand fortheir products in the US. The PlantController feels the current capacity is not adequate to meet hisforecasted demand. However, the VPOperations for MediCrystals is certain that there is enoughcapacity to meet the requirements. Yourteam needs to evaluate if there is genuinely a capacity constraintfor Fabricadas and providerecommendations on how to maximize utilization to meet the demandat current capacity. Based on theoperations of MediCrystals, provide recommendations on how itshould meet the increase in demandfor these products. Explain why the Plant Manager feels thecapacity is inadequate and why the VPOperations feels the capacity is enough.
The products are needed for vaccines for other diseases, too.Glass vials are very hard and time-consuming to make. Sometimes, they take months for themanufacturing process. Even thoughcoronavirus is the most pressing health issues in the world,MediCrystals wants to maintain a supply oftheir products for other critical vaccines which cannot bedistorted for Covid-19 vaccine vials supply.
Company BackgroundMediCrystals Co. is a leading German pharmaceutical glassmanufacturer offering a solution for theentire range of basic volume tubular glass parenteral packagingincluding ampoules, vials, cartridges andsterile pre-fillable syringes. They have multiple manufacturingplants in Europe, America and South-EastAsia. MediCrystals has customers all over the world and supplies toover 120 countries.
Changing LandscapeMediCrystals Co. aims to provide pharma vials for Covid-19 vaccinesto Payima Biotec (a global genericand specialty pharmaceutical and vaccine maker) and various othersimilar entities. They have signedagreements with major pharmaceutical firms to supply pharma glassproducts for the packaging of twobillion doses of Covid-19 vaccines. The vaccine being developedcurrently can only be stored in glassvials. When the vaccine is approved, globally, manufacturers willstruggle to source enough glass vials,syringes, and ampoules to bottle enough for the global immunizationdrive. MediCrystals manufacturesover 8 billion pharma glass containers for drugs annually.There's a glass shortage currently due to thesudden increase in demand for such products. Many of the suppliersbeing small and localized,MediCrystals needs to be sure that none of their suppliers arefacing business continuity challenges dueto the pandemic. Manufacturers globally are facing financial andoperational challenges; the demand isunpredictable, and there are concerns related to shortages andstockouts.
Current Supply Chain OperationsVP Operations at MediCrystals has hired your team to leverageexpertise around three critical areas herteam has identified.
First, the Manager of Procurement and Sourcing team has heardfrom the CPO that some of the criticalsuppliers are facing operational challenges due to the pandemic.She thereby, intends to develop a high-level risk scoring methodology or rationale to score the suppliersand review mitigation activitiescurrently in place. Based on the supplier data available, the RiskCompliance Manager has currentlyidentified two risk domains - Finance, Regulatory. As part of the‘Regulatory’ risk domain, she intends toscore each supplier based on the risk factors – Labor unrests, andEnvironmental incidents. She wantsyour team to identify other risk domains and factors contributingto the risk domains based on theavailable supplier data. She wants your team to develop acomprehensive risk scoring methodology andidentify suppliers that pose the most risk.
The marketing team has gathered insights regarding theanticipated demand trend for various SKUsbased on their product families. Your team as part of this project,has been requested to estimate thechange in the inventory position to understand the working capitalimpact in one of the most criticalplants in Switzerland, GlasWork. Based on the marketing insightsgathered, she also wants tounderstand the potential obsolete inventory that they currentlyhave.
And the third area of concern is to identify if there is anycapacity constraint for Fabricadas, the newfacilities in Chicago, due to the sudden increase in demand fortheir products in the US. The PlantController feels the current capacity is not adequate to meet hisforecasted demand. However, the VPOperations for MediCrystals is certain that there is enoughcapacity to meet the requirements. Yourteam needs to evaluate if there is genuinely a capacity constraintfor Fabricadas and providerecommendations on how to maximize utilization to meet the demandat current capacity. Based on theoperations of MediCrystals, provide recommendations on how itshould meet the increase in demandfor these products. Explain why the Plant Manager feels thecapacity is inadequate and why the VPOperations feels the capacity is enough.
The products are needed for vaccines for other diseases, too.Glass vials are very hard and time-consuming to make. Sometimes, they take months for themanufacturing process. Even thoughcoronavirus is the most pressing health issues in the world,MediCrystals wants to maintain a supply oftheir products for other critical vaccines which cannot bedistorted for Covid-19 vaccine vials supply.