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RFID maximises pharma supply chain efficiency

Pharmaceutical and medical goods are one of the most sensitive and supervised product groups worldwide, which means that any product tracking and management system must be completely reliable and proof against theft, fraud or counterfeiting.

Hanmi Pharmaceutical Co., one of Korea’s largest pharmaceutical companies, employs RFID to increase efficiency, monitor product movements, and to help it carry out government regulated quality managements. The company already uses RAIN RFID tags to track 60 million product units annually, from packaging to picking and shipping, enabling an automated process from order receipt to the shipment of a packed carton to a wholesaler.

Since 2009, the company has been demonstrating best practice in the handling of sensitive pharmaceutical products throughout the supply chain. Hanmi installed an automated picking system (APS) to work alongside RFID, using EPC Gen 2 passive ultra-high frequency (UHF) RFID tags and readers to identify products, and to then collect, box and ship those items without the need for human intervention. The only manual portion of the process, in fact, is an inspection carried out by Hanmi’s staff as each box is packed for an order.

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