Supply chain has been a major bottleneck during the nationwide lockdown as everything came to a halt. Worst affected were the health care providers who did not receive the desired level of support in order to work efficiently and effectively at this critical juncture of time when lives were depended on supplies of all kinds specially medical & health care supplies.

The increased use of technology in the healthcare supply chain and the rise of AI-powered companies in the healthcare supply chain during the Corona virus turmoil was witnessed.

Keeping the challenges in mind, a ‘Supply Chain Management Conclave’ was organised by Centre for Operations and Supply Chain Management (COSCM), FORE School of Management, New Delhi on January 14^th – 15^th with a theme focused on the Health Care segment. Dr. BBL Madhukar, Chairman FORE School of Management, invited the distinguished line of speakers from the field and said, “World is looking at India as the two Covid19 vaccines are being rolled out. India has a legacy of supporting developed countries and they expect us to produce the vaccines in large volumes and at a cost effective price.”

The virtual conclave was attended by more than 100 delegates from various fields to deliberate upon the challenges faced during the pandemic in the health care segment.

Given the context, Dr. Jitendra K. Das, Director of FORE School of Management, said it was imminent to have a discussion and discourse on the topic as supply chain management has become more complex and dynamic and it has never been so important to adopt an agile approach. Citing the dry run of Covid 19 vaccines and the super complexities involved in the storage of vaccine vials which needs to be kept, transported and stored under a certain controlled environment, Dr. Das said, “Supply chain is more of a value chain today”.

The conclave was divided in four sessions, one each on Pharmaceutical Supply Chain, Medical Equipment Supply Chain, Temperature controlled and vaccine Supply Chain and Telemedicine.

According to Prof. Dr. Mohita G Sharma, faculty at FORE School, who also happened to be the convenor of the conclave said, “The pandemic of coronavirus disease has moved the centre stage on health care supply chains and reason why Healthcare supply chain management is one of the thrust areas of the COSCM”. 

COSCM or Centre for Operations and Supply Chain Management at FORE School of Management, intends to leverage the knowledge and expertise gained from the research rigor to provide result driven consulting services and to support organizations through their challenges and move towards profitability, sustainability and success. The Focal areas of COSCM are supply chain, transportation, technology, innovation, manufacturing & services across different industry verticals like power, retail,healthcare, agriculture and infrastructure.

Leaders and stakeholders from healthcare industry, participated in the conclave along with  doctors involved in last mile delivery who shared their experiences and insights on the platform about temperature controlled third-party logistics. Dr. S P Puri, from AIIMS, was the keynote speaker. Along with him were Dr. Shuchin Bajaj, Founder Director-Ujala Cygnus hospital; Commander Navneet Bali, Regional Director North, Narayana Health; Dr. Shuchin Bajaj, Founder Director , Ujala Cygnus Hospital; Dr. Mahesh Devnani, PGIMER Chandigarh; Mr. Shishir Kumar, Director Healthcare and Life Science, Hitachi Vantara; Dr. Amit Banerjee, Ex Prof. NUS Singapore.

As perMr. Amit Sharma, Cytecare Cancer Hospitals, the deliberations also showed the gaps in the healthcare system which are probable areas for management research.

Findings and proceedings from the conclave would be suggested to the policymakers, informed Dr. Mohita.