Sourcing, procurement, and supply management professionals are faced with an ongoing challenge: reduce costs while adding greater value for their companies. So what are some best practices to achieve this goal?.

DCAT Sharp Sourcing, to be held June 27 in New Brunswick, New Jersey, will address that question by featuring leading pharmaceutical executives that will provide insight on key issues: collaborative supply chain planning, technology-led sourcing, supplier-enable innovation, talent in sourcing and procurement, and Big Data analytics in procurement..

Inside Sharp Sourcing
Through the Buyers’ Forum, an interactive session that involves presentations, group discussion, and knowledge sharing, senior to mid-level executives in sourcing, procurement, and supply management have the opportunity to learn from their peers of the approaches that they are taking to address some key challenges.

As product complexity increases, sourcing professionals are tasked with finding contract development and manufacturing organizations (CDMOs) and contract manufacturing organizations (CMOs) that can meet specialized technology requirements. In a presentation on technology-led sourcing of CDMOs and CMOs, Merck & Co. Inc. will provide lessons learned for evaluating technology, capabilities, and scale when sourcing specialized capabilities from CDMOs and CMOs.

Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) affect the pharmaceutical manufacturing value chain as pharmaceutical companies deal with consolidation of suppliers, CDMOs, and CMOs. But that change also brings opportunities and ways to forge greater collaboration in the customer–supplier relationship. Janssen Pharmaceuticals will offer perspective on collaborative supply-chain planning and best practices in managing supplier relationships post-supplier M&A.

Building and developing the skills and capabilities required for sourcing, procurement, and supply management functions are crucial in adding value to an organization. Much recent attention has been placed on early-career professionals (Millennials and Generation Y), so what can we learn from this group? To gain perspectives, early-career professionals from Bristol-Myers Squibb and Merck & Co. Inc. will provide insight on the unique skills that Millennials and Generation Y professional can bring to the table, what senior executives can learn from them, and how their companies are developing their skills to meet future talent demands in sourcing and procurement.

Concurrent to the Buyers’ Forum at DCAT Sharp Sourcing is a specialized forum, the Suppliers’ Forum, specifically designed for suppliers, CDMOs, and CMOs to provide customer-centric perspectives and industry insight on key issues impacting the customer–supplier relationship. Small to mid-sized pharmaceutical companies are an important customer base for suppliers, CMDOs, and CMOs, and the Suppliers’ Forum will take-an in-depth look at key issues impacting this base.

Key is the performance of this sector, so the Suppliers’ Forum will feature a Wall Street view on financing and partnering activity of small-to-mid-sized pharma companies and the financial outlook for suppliers, CMOs, and CDMOs (RBC Capital Markets LLC).

Also addressed will be the latest regulatory requirements on starting materials and strategies for successfully defending regulatory starting materials, including the role of external manufacturing (Corbus Pharmaceuticals). The Suppliers’ Forum will also feature presentations by Eli Lilly and Company on outsourcing strategies for active pharmaceutical ingredients, including for early-stage development, and ways to advance alliance management, and by Paratek Pharmaceuticals on outsourcing strategies of drug substances and drug products from an emerging pharma company perspective. 

Buyers and suppliers come together for the Joint Afternoon Session at DCAT Sharp Sourcing to learn from leading executives on practical ways to resolve common challenges in sourcing and procurement and on new tools for managing the customer–supplier relationship. This session will feature a roundtable of chief procurement officers discussing specific challenges facing procurement organizations and their company initiatives to resolve those challenges (Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Biogen, and GE Healthcare) by examining: ways to optimize operating models through global shared services; Big Data analytics in procurement; brand creation for the global procurement function; and supplier-enabled innovation.

Also Siemens and Pfizer will provide insight on supply-chain financing, an emerging approach first adopted outside the pharmaceutical industry, which seeks to create a “win-win” solution for customers and suppliers in satisfying working capital requirements.

The session will also feature a market outlook for APIs with an in-depth analysis of supply and demand fundamentals and the factors influencing growth for small molecules and biologics for innovator and generic drugs in developed and emerging markets (Clarivate Analytics).

Further information on DCAT Sharp Sourcing, including how to register, may be found here.