Clinical Supply Management Category Procurement Intelligence Report

The market for Science and Environmental Research and its sub-segments such as Clinical Supply Management are at an interesting intersection. Most suppliers of Clinical Supply Management are moving up the value chain and offering integrated services that go beyond just Clinical Supply Management. Buyers are increasingly collaborating with vendors who can offer one-stop solutions as they now have fewer suppliers to manage and can achieve greater cost savings that arises out of awarding a larger contract to a supplier.

Data security and maintaining the confidentiality of client data and other sensitive information has towered over most of the discussions related to the category. Most geographies now have stringent regulations to protect data, privacy and confidentiality. Although suppliers now have a value proposition that puts data security and confidentiality at the forefront of marketing pitches, adherence to these standards have also increased OPEX of suppliers owing to increased compliance methods and requirement to change critical processes.

Proliferation of supply pool in regions such as APAC is expected to intensify supply market competition. This will compel service providers to compete on price points to attract new buyers, which is expected to offset some of the increase in procurement cost arising out of increasing supplier OPEX.

Trends like these and many others discussed in this report are necessitating a relook at the way Clinical Supply Management is procured and the procurement cost saving opportunities that exist.

Clinical Supply Management procurement best practices are moving towards a level of sophistication which is typically seen in traditional procurement categories. Category managers now have an attractive opportunity to adapt the best practices seen within this category as well as those being leveraged in other non-related categories. This report summarizes the best practices picked from across multiple categories that could work well for category managers involved with Clinical Supply Management procurement strategy.

For example, Buyers must clearly define clauses related to ownership of subcontracting services that are not part of their preferred partners' portfolios to ensure service consistency and control of sensitive data that are shared with subcontracted firms. The roles and responsibilities of subcontractors should be clearly defined by supplier to provide visibility on the quality of main service provider vs sub-contractors.

Buyers can engage in pilot projects with interested service providers to assess their capabilities. This also helps buyers to assess the cost benefits and value proposition of the proposal.

Buyers should specify a mechanism for agreeing to and recording changes in services provided by the interacting parties, usually buyers and service providers.

Clinical Supply Management procurement managers also need to proactively identify and mitigate potential risks that can arise in the supply chain or contracts for Clinical Supply Management procurement. Some examples include: