Enhancing Access and Compliance: How Built-In Support Transforms Life Sciences Supply Chain

Access to essential pharmaceutical products - like medicines, vaccines, and diagnostics - can be hindered by unreliable health and supply systems. This is where modern technology plays a critical role, enabling better tracking and management of these commodities.

The U.S. Drug Supply Chain Security Act has mandated manufacturers to improve traceability, which is essential for ensuring that medicines reach patients safely. SAP Information Collaboration Hub for Life Sciences is designed to help meet these demands by streamlining the tracking process. However, as the network of users has grown, support challenges have surfaced. To address these issues, SAP introduced Built-In Support into the hub to help provide direct, seamless assistance to life sciences companies and their partners.

I had the opportunity to interview Tarun Luthra, head of Support - Industries & CX, and Andreas Krummlauf, vice president and head of Product Management Life Sciences, Health and Ecosystem, about the project's impact. Here's how Built-In Support is helping to enhance operational efficiency for network users in the life sciences industry.

Q: How did this project come about?

Krummlauf:With the rise of global regulations, manufacturers of medicine needed to develop the ability to uniquely identify every pack of medicine they sell in those countries. This is to avoid counterfeiting in the legitimate supply chain. To support this requirement, SAP's serialization portfolio was initiated in 2015 with the SAP Advanced Track and Trace for Pharmaceuticals application, a corporate serialization repository.

SAP Information Collaboration Hub for Life Sciences started in 2016 with a focused goal: to manage traceability and serialization data exchange for our customers and a couple of hundred of their business partners. In 2021, the hub won the Hasso Plattner Founders' Award.

As the network expanded to tens of thousands of partners, a key limitation emerged: we did not have a simple way for business partners, acting as network end users, to directly interact with SAP support in case of critical issues, even without having a support contract with SAP in place.

Q: What support challenges were network end users facing?

Luthra: The challenge arose from supporting an increasing number of network end users that were not direct SAP customers. Without access to SAP's support system, the network end users had to rely on their customers to resolve issues, adding unnecessary steps and risked communication gaps. This presented an opportunity to implement Built-In Support to support our customers' business partners as network end users when they use SAP Information Collaboration Hub for Life Sciences.

Q: How does Built-In Support make a difference for network end users?

Luthra: We are now providing network end users with a direct entry point from within SAP Information Collaboration Hub for Life Sciences, enabling them to easily contact the support team. Built-In Support is seamlessly integrated into the hub. The network end user can find help by searching SAP Knowledge Base Articles or submitting a case.

Krummlauf: This streamlined process can enhance the support experience and helps ensure users can quickly find the help they need. Network end users can now resolve issues independently or submit a case without involving customers in the resolution process. This improvement leads to faster response times. Users can efficiently search for relevant product information and potentially resolve issues on their own. This autonomy helps enhance the overall support experience and empowers users to find solutions quickly and effectively.

Built-In Support Enhances User Experience and Support Efficiency

In conclusion, the integration of Built-In Support within SAP Information Collaboration Hub for Life Sciences marks a significant advancement in enhancing user experience and support efficiency. When network end users are empowered to directly access support resources and resolve issues independently, we not only help to streamline the support process but also reinforce SAP's commitment to improving lives through better life sciences solutions. As regulatory demands evolve, our innovative approaches will continue to drive progress and collaboration in the life sciences sector. For more insights, stay connected with SAP's ongoing developments.