Robotics and Automation News

​The global medical industry is one of the world’s fastest growing industries, accounting for more than 10% of the gross domestic product (GDP) in most developed countries. This includes drug, pharmaceutical and medical device companies that have made significant contributions to the improved health and well-being of billions of people worldwide.

​The role these companies play in our society cannot be overestimated. And by the same token, the challenges they face cannot be underestimated. One major challenge is compliance. Medical companies have to comply with a growing number of regulations. The U.S. Food & Drug Administration keeps a tight rein on these companies, demanding stringent adherence to such regulations as the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) of 2013 with provisions that must be met over the course of 10 years.

The two key words in this Act are Supply Chain. And the key to Supply Chain compliance is Inventory Management. At WithoutWire we prefer to call it Inventory Science. Science is the foundation for the development of new drugs and medical devices. Science is also the foundation for WithoutWire’s inventory and warehouse management systems. Because inventory management software cannot be effective if it is static. It has to evolve so that it doesn’t become an ineffective chore that no longer meets the growing demands of compliance. Custom Attributes are just one of the many evolutions in WithoutWire’s inventory program that now allows customers to extend their data collection activities to include fields that are beyond the standard.  Attributes can be added to basic, serial tracked, lot tracked, and date tracked items. We use attributes for collecting and managing data points such as temperature upon arrival, vendor related data points such as scoring, vendor lot numbers, and even elements like MAC Address which are becoming more relevant as IoT-enabled medical devices are coming to market. 

​These attributes can also be locked in so the user doesn’t have to enter in the same information for 1,000 serial numbers! On that note, for organizations working with serial numbers, we have also developed a Rapid Entry System for Serial Tracking and entering serial numbers that cuts out 66% of the steps when receiving and picking serial tracked items.  

Sometimes it’s the small things that turn out to be the big things. For example, if you’re working in a clean room environment, can you operate Smart devices while wearing sterile gloves? The devil is in the details, and we’ve thought about every detail to ensure that our inventory science tools will exceed your usability expectations. Without a moment to spare, it’s time you learned what we can do for you.