Merck India is a leading science and technology company headquartered in Darmstadt, Germany that operates across healthcare, life science and electronics.
Spearheaded by Prabhat Verma – India Head of Integrated Supply Chain Operations (ISCO) at Merck Life Science, the company is a fully integrated group focused on delivering high-quality and efficient solutions to solve the most challenging problems in science. It operates three world-class manufacturing plants situated in Peenya, Jigani (Bangalore) and Patalganga (Navi Mumbai).
Situated in Navi Mumbai, the newly established Patalganga plant addresses prowess to its other two existing facilities. With an organised warehouse unit for managing materials stored in different places, the Patalganga plant is a distribution of bulk and specialized chemicals meant for research, pharma, biopharma and academia. Starting from material dispatch to the material packaging area, the plant is well-designed to meet and exceed all international norms. They follow the best practices regarding safety and standards that ensure the consistent quality of manufactured products.
MT spoke with Prabhat about the Patalganga plant in detail and aspects such as the importance of logistics in manufacturing and distribution.
Merck Life Sciences recently launched its third plant in Patalganga. Could you take us through the journey and history?
Merck was incorporated in India as E. Merck India Private Limited back in 1967. In 2017, we completed half a century of operating in India and it has been a rewarding journey. While we started as a pharmaceutical company, we expanded and amplified our offerings to become a more holistic science and technology business, spanning across the sectors of Healthcare, life science and electronics sectors.
We recently launched our plant in Patalganga, which is a state-of-the-art distribution-cum-manufacturing facility spread across 40,000 sq mtr, from where we handle distribution of 2,00,000+ SKUs across Indian geographies for multiple sectors such as pharma, diagnostics, academia, government institutions, chemical labs and chemical distributors. The plant is backed by our purpose to ensure we meet our long-term customer strategy through improved fill rate and minimal supply disruptions.
One of the things we’re absolutely seeing is coronavirus accelerating change. What changes did Merck incorporate because of the pandemic?
I must say technology was the one big game changer that spurred significant changes in many aspects of the way we did business during the global pandemic and lockdown. These technologies have in fact, continued to have a positive impact on business functioning, even after the pandemic is in the past:
- Our meticulously designed, robust IT infrastructure enabled most of our supply chain planning and procurement teams to work efficiently and remotely.
- We successfully supplied items from our Patalganga warehouse during the difficult pandemic periods, enable customers to hasten the development and manufacturing of COVID-19 drugs and therapies.
- Prioritizing our people’s health and safety, technology allowed our teams to successfully deliver on business requirements with minimal disruptions within optimal turnaround time.
IoT – a lot of manufacturing industries have incorporated the internet of things. Could you tell us about Merck’s efforts in digitizing the plants?
5G, is poised to revolutionise the way we live and work. For over a decade, it has been heralded as the true enabler of Internet of things, artificial intelligence (AI), Industry 4.0, and more.
At Merck, we have always been ahead of the curve, integrating IoT across multiple of our business operations:
- Technology for instance, has allowed the seamless integration of ERP systems and aggregating data to gain real-time supply chain information.
- IoT (Internet of Things) has made it possible to have improved knowledge of inventory levels, amplifying process efficiency and optimise supply & demand.
- Warehouse automation systems covering material inward, put-away, picking & dispatch are increasingly helping us sketch and automate daily routines in the warehouse, locate and manage inventory, and augment warehouse productivity.
- For temperature control products that require a defined temperature over the entire distribution chain, IoT devices play a crucial role in ensuring compliance.
- Our sensors and data capture mechanisms help identify temperature issues and deliver concurrent problem alerts along with thorough workflow & analytics tracking.
- Automated shipping notifications to customers help in the form of real-time delivery updates by tracking orders right from the time they are invoiced until delivery to customer premises.
Could you share details of the products being manufactured and distributed by the plant and how it meets the business objectives of Merck in India?
To give a brief background…
- In India, we manage the distribution of more than 200,000 SKUs for various industries, including pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, academia, governmental institutions, chemical labs, and chemical distributors.
- For our domestic clients, we also produce and down-fill organic solids in various pack sizes.
- To facilitate quicker deliveries to our clients and support R&D efforts, the warehouse holds these specialties along with PESO Chemicals (Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organization). A robust automated temperature monitoring system ensures that a wide range of products in the storage condition category of 2 to 8 deg, 15 to 25 deg, -20 deg, -70 deg are stored in controlled environments per their label declarations.
- Our Warehouse Automation Systems and Advance Material Handling Equipment such as VNA (Very Narrow Aisle) equipment, Flameproof Stackers and Battery-Operated Trucks further help in safe, agile & seamless operations, thereby guaranteeing that 95% of our orders get shipped out on the same day.
I would like to add here that the pandemic has led to significant geo-economic and geopolitical shifts, with the government driving the self-sufficiency agenda and industries recalibrating their business models. Our warehouse at Patalganga is well-connected to all the pharma hubs in the country and proximity to port facilitates rapid and cost-efficient movement of goods. Life science is growing at an unprecedented rate across the globe, and the DC caters to the needs of markets across APAC and South Africa, which have good growth potential in this sector. Industries like biopharma, vaccine manufacturing, new molecule discovery organisation are the fastest growing segments in a post-COVID world.
The growth driven by vaccine and biosimilar customers has been powered by the Patalganga warehouse. The fundamental endeavour of the Patalganga plant launch was to ensure that we build a sustainable infrastructure to handle current and future client needs while delivering higher service levels.
Could you highlight the safety protocols and standards being maintained inside the plant?
Our Navi Mumbai distribution centre located at Patalganga is licensed as a class 3 hazardous storage facility.
- Our EHS & Legal compliance services cover Indian Environmental & Safety Laws and Indian Factory Rules.
- Firefighting system is designed as per NFPA standards and National Building Code 2004 & 2016.
- Our safety protocols are benchmarked to global standards and cover employee & visitor entry/exit management, robust contractor management, sturdy work permit systems, disciplined lock-out tag-out system and daily toolbox talk before the commencement of operations are a few to mention.
- The safety features like fire detection, fire hydrants, foam-based fire suppression systems, and state-of-the-art in-rack sprinkler systems are the site’s standout features.
- To prevent cross-contamination or other hazards, the compounds are stored in accordance with the compatibility matrix.
Details on growth and revenue aspects of the plant.
The Indian pharma industry is predicted to reach $100 billion in sales by 2025, according to a report by the India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF). We believe India will need strong manufacturing and distribution capabilities, like the state-of-the-art Patalganga warehouse, to support the country’s progress. The macroeconomic indicators are poised to boost Merck’s growth and revenue.