A new report from Research and Markets provides a comprehensive analysis of the applications of RFID technology in the pharmaceutical supply chain. The report is titled Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) in Pharmaceuticals -- Supply Chain Security Concerns Provide Impetus for RFID Adoption.

The authors find that there is a growing need for the pharmaceutical industry to secure their distribution channels from counterfeit drugs. Also, increased supply chain security and operational efficiency will help the pharmaceutical industry improve its reputation in the delivery of safe drugs. Hence, increasing concerns over the safety of supply chains and the health of patients have forced companies to think big and adopt RFID solutions. A steady increase in the adoption of RFID hardware, software and services in the pharmaceutical industry is expected to drive the growth of these solutions.

However, he pharmaceutical industry is reluctant to adopt RFID systems in their supply chains due to concerns over the high projected costs of implementation. Although concerns over high costs of tags have been alleviated, costs of other hardware and software services are still prohibitive for most pharmaceutical companies. The pharmaceutical industry is also uncertain about technology reliability and data overload, which has delayed implementation. To add to these concerns, there are currently only a few services to accurately estimate the return on investment that RFID can offer. The uncertainty about the ROI and the necessity of high-cost implementation prevents companies and supply chain participants from adopting RFID solutions. Therefore, lack of a clear business case for RFID implementation proves to be the most important barrier that needs to be overcome to increase adoption rates.

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