Identifying Serialization Line Sourcing Factors

Although consultants, software providers and integrators were involved in serialization projects, the vast majority of manufacturers retained buying authority for line upgrades (Chart 6.1).

That may not be surprising, but it is noteworthy that 18.4% of respondents noted “other third party” to the question. To that, Dirk Rodgers, Founder of RxTrace.com, commented, “[These] could be readers who are virtual manufacturers and are dependent on their CMO/CPO to upgrade the packaging lines used for their product(s).”

Healthcare Packaging’s exclusive Serialization Playbook survey looked at the role of serialization on packaging lines from multiple points of view. The Playbook was downloaded more than 4,700 times between 2012 and 2018. Each person answered a series of questions that revealed details such as where they worked, their role in serialization, as well as key metrics such as how many lines they were responsible for serializing and where those lines were located.

Chart 6.2 shows that both single- and multi-sourcing plans for serialization line upgrades were employed by respondents. Here, Rodgers noted, “These results appear to include those from readers who downloaded the Playbook as far back as 2012, so it is no surprise that nearly three quarters said they have ‘No plans’ or ‘No decision.’ I have to believe that the more recent respondents indicated ‘Single’ or ‘Multiple’ sourcing.”