DCAT Sharp Sourcing 2018 is a one-day conference, organized by the Drug, Chemical & Associated Technologies Association (DCAT), where sourcing, procurement, and supply management professionals and suppliers come together for a day of networking and education sessions.

This year’s conference, which will be held June 26 in New Brunswick, New Jersey, is focused on the customer–supplier relationship by providing practical solutions for building a stronger and more effective pharma manufacturing value chain. Conference sessions will deliver both peer and customer-centric insights from leading industry experts on CDMO/CMO market performance, outsourcing strategies, partner differentiation, value creation through partnerships in manufacturing and technology, and the impact of new technologies, such as blockchain and artificial intelligence.

DCAT Sharp Sourcing is designed for C-suite, senior, and mid-level executives in sourcing, procurement and supply management as well as suppliers of pharma ingredients and development and manufacturing services.
 
Suppliers’ and Buyers’ Forums
The conference kicks off with concurrent Suppliers’ and Buyers’ Forums that deliver targeted presentations for each audience. The Suppliers’ Forum provides pharma customer-centric perspectives for suppliers, CDMOs, and CMOs. The Buyers’ Forum provides insight from peers and industry experts for sourcing, procurement and supply management professionals. 

Suppliers’ Forum
The Suppliers’ Forum, designed for CDMOs, CMOs, and suppliers supporting pharma/biopharma development, manufacturing, packaging, and the related supply chain, will explore key trends and provide first-hand experience from small-to-mid-sized pharma companies (an important customer base for suppliers) on key issues impacting the customer–supplier relationship.

CDMO/CMO Market/Financial Overview: William Blair & Company will provide an investment perspective on the key trends and financial performance driving the CDMO/CMO market, including key developments in supplier expansions and mergers and acquisitions.

Outsourcing Strategies—End-to-End Service Models: What are the benefits and limitations of employing an end-to-end (active pharmaceutical ingredients and drug products) service model?  This presentation will provide an inside view of one pharmaceutical company’s decision criteria and project-management approach.

Outsourcing Strategies—Specialized Technologies: TESARO, Inc. will share its approach to CDMO/CMO selection and management in partnering for specialized manufacturing technologies, including high-potency manufacturing.

Buyers’ Forum
A PwC report, “Supplier Relationship Management: How Key Suppliers Drive Your Company’s Competitive Advantage,” found that as a result of further outsourcing, organizations are realizing that they have become more reliant on suppliers in terms of innovative power, security of supply, corporate social responsibility, and ongoing cost savings. As a result, the report points out that strategic partnerships have moved to the top of the agenda for many global corporations and supplier relationship management is one of the few remaining procurement topics that can still make a significant difference.

The Buyers’ Forum, designed for sourcing, procurement, and supply management professionals, will examine these strategic partnerships in more depth with case studies and also look at how new technologies in sourcing and procurement may drive performance.

Partner Differentiation: In today’s sourcing environment characterized by multiple changes, increased competition and higher expectations, it is necessary to develop partnerships with strategic suppliers to achieve more sustainable competitive advantage and to drive superior performance.  Johnson & Johnson will share how it applies a differentiated partnering program to identify and realize sustained benefits along the nodes in the supply chain.

Value Creation: Technology and Manufacturing Capacity: Investment by pharmaceutical companies and suppliers in manufacturing capacity and technology represents a fully strategic partnership.  What factors must be in place to ensure a successful outcome? Pfizer and GE Healthcare will share insights on their partnership for a new biotechnology center in Hangzhou, China that features an advanced modular manufacturing facility based on single-use biomanufacturing technology.

Blockchain in Sourcing and Procurement: The Boston Consulting Group will discuss how this emerging technology can improve supply-chain governance, and how it is and may be applied in sourcing and procurement both inside and outside the pharmaceutical industry. 

Joint Afternoon Session
Buyers and suppliers come together for the Joint Afternoon Session at DCAT Sharp Sourcing, which will explore real-world customer-supplier projects as well as potential disruptive technologies in sourcing and procurement.

Straight Talk—From the Buy and Sell Side: This session will feature co-presentations of pharmaceutical companies and suppliers offering candid perspectives on real-world challenges and solutions arising in a campaign. Topics include:

Cost-Competitive Manufacturing Through Collaboration and Relationship Management: Merck & Co., Inc.’s antibiotic portfolio requires compliant, cost-competitive manufacturing of beta-lactam intermediates that are hard to source due to stringent segregation requirements. Merck & Co., Inc. and Asymchem will share the details of their partnership from reconfiguring a CMO site into a beta-lactam facility and the initial challenges to the evolution of collaboration and relationship management that expanded this initial opportunity into a future collaboration.

Partnering for Security of Supply: The success of a business’s global supply chain depends on managing and mitigating risks and working with partners to achieve security of supply. Teva Pharmaceuticals and Amcor will provide lessons learned on how they resolved a potential disruption in supply of packaging materials using an advanced sourcing approach with upstream suppliers. They will discuss how they addressed short-and longer-term supply needs, enabled qualification of alternative product choices, and managed inventory and cost. 

Digital Strategies for Sourcing: Artificial Intelligence (AI) and advanced analytics are changing companies’ relationships with their customers and business partners. This session will explore how AI may impact traditional roles in sourcing and procurement and the technology/business practices needed by suppliers with AI-driven sourcing.

Keynote Speaker and Networking
Providing the key success factors to build truly collaborative partnerships, Wendell P. Weeks, Chairman and CEO of Corning Incorporated, will give a keynote address, Driving Supplier-Enabled Innovation, in which he will share insights and lessons learned from his 35-year career working with partners such as Apple, Samsung Electronics, and Ford Motor Company, and most recently Pfizer, Inc. and Merck & Co., Inc. He will discuss Corning’s planned $4 billion investment in a new product for parenteral drug packaging that is an outgrowth of its partnership with Pfizer and Merck. A networking reception will follow. 

Information about DCAT Sharp Sourcing, including how to register, may be found at dcat.org/SharpSourcing