Key considerations during transportation of Supplies

Transportation in a supply chain refers to the movement of products from one location to another, which begins at the start of the supply chain as materials make their way to the warehouse and continue all the way to the end-user.

The following considerations should be kept in mind before transporting the supplies:

Packaging

Proper packing of supplies is the most important aspect of transportation. Following are the components of good packaging:

• Labelling: All the supplies should be labelled properly before transportation. The important information which should be displayed on the labels include product name/ content, product strength (for drugs only), batch number, date of manufacturing, date of expiry, and storage conditions requirement. Safety instruction in the form of labels (like fragile, temperature-sensitive, direction) should be pasted on the boxes.

• Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)/ Barcode Scanning: Barcoding of packages before transporting ensure better tracking of the packages. In addition, entering data using barcoding is fast and reliable, significantly reduces human error and increases efficiency, and easy identification of product information.

• Security: Supplies that are damaged upon arrival can cause major problems. Not only do we lose the cost of the original item and shipping, but we may also have to send replacements at an additional cost. Hence, it is important that the supplies are packed in such a manner that the packaging keeps them safe during the transit.

• Storage Conditions: Majority of the supplies transported under National TB Elimination Programme (NTEP) are temperature sensitive and fluctuations above or below the manufacturer’s labelled storage temperature range may adversely affect product quality. Hence, the supplies should be transported in such a manner that the transportation temperatures meet manufacturer’s instructions.  

Resources

• Standard Operating Procedure Manual Procurement & Supply Chain Management. NTEP, Central TB Division, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare; Government of India. 

Assessment