SAP builds cloud platform for Covid-19 supply chains

The task of delivering Covid-19 vaccines to billions of people within months will strain even the most efficient supply chains.

SAP wants to ease this looming logistical nightmare with the launch of its vaccine collaboration hub (VCH) for organisations to better manage vaccine supply distribution. SAP says the VCH can also help governments and their industry partners coordinate and deploy mass vaccination programs.

SAP’s VCH is built on the SAP Information Collaboration Hub for Life Sciences. It covers the end-to-end process from manufacturing to controlled distribution to administration and postvaccine monitoring.

Businesses that are part of the vaccine production process, from manufacturers, logistics service providers and pharma companies to wholesalers and dispensers, can run their critical vaccine processes on SAP software, the company says.

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SAP has designed the VCH as an extension to its existing drug supply chain, to help make collaboration among the network partners easier and monitor the order fulfillment of vaccines, all the way from vaccine suppliers to the dispensing units.

“Covid-19 has put a lot of pressure on the life sciences industry where they have realised a large gap in their supply chain strategy,” said Michael Townsend, industry analyst at IDC. “A one-stop place for the life sciences industry to manage their vaccination procedures and tap into a source of suppliers, even those across industries, will help to fill this gap, to ensure patients obtain life-saving drugs and devices.”