Many companies rush into vendor selection or adopt a “plug-and-play” approach, or reporting the required events directly from the national hub, assuming that any solution of them will fit their operations.
The reality is different:
- The chosen software may fit with the warehouse operations creating a bottle neck in some of the warehouse reporting operations.
- Integration with the company’s ERP or WMS may be limited, forcing heavy manual work.
- The system may not scale when compliance expands from serialization to aggregation, or changed in the reporting model .
The Cost of Changing Later
When an unsuitable system is implemented, companies often face:
- Re-implementation costs (licensing, customization, integration all over again).
- Operational disruption (downtime, staff retraining, delayed reporting).
- Regulatory risk (missed reporting deadlines, penalties).
- Lost trust from regulators, trading partners, and even operators
What looked like a “fast and cheap” option becomes a long and costly road.
The Solution: Start with Business Requirements
The most effective way to avoid this is to start with business requirements.
- Map your supply chain processes: manufacturing, warehousing, distribution, pharmacy/hospital dispensing.
- Define what events you must report (commissioning, aggregation, shipping, returns, decommissioning).
- Decide if you need a standalone track & trace solution, or if it’s more strategic to upgrade your existing ERP/WMS and integrate it with the national hub.
- Engage stakeholders early( operations, IT, quality, ) to ensure the system fits real workflows.
By investing time upfront in defining your needs, you can avoid costly changes later, stay compliant, and turn regulation into an opportunity.