Description

TraceLink’s Product Information Manager (PIM) network application helps enable companies to securely publish and / or subscribe to various types of product information and transactions on those product data records. With PIM, companies can meet business and operational use cases for sharing and / or verifying product information across their supply networks for serialized product distribution operations or to meet related regulations such as the U.S. Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA). 

Benefits

Product Information Manager, though its master data sharing and product verification capabilities which were designed in part to support the industry’s Verification Router Service (VRS) business and operational requirements, can be used to help meet key needs in today’s large, growing, and diverse supply chain.

• Support pharmaceutical manufacturers and repackagers in meeting DSCSA requirements to efficiently and securely verify the identity of saleable returns or the identity of suspect products in the supply chain as part of DSCSA Request for Verification regulations
• Support wholesale distributors and downstream supply chain entities in meeting similar DSCSA regulations for verifying the product identifier of saleable returned medicines prior to their resale, or to check the authenticity of product identity for potentially suspect products
• Enable pharmacies, hospitals, and other dispensers to efficiently implement product identity verification as part of patient safety procedures in pharmacy operations prior to sale or as part of procedures prior to patient use
• Facilitate the sharing and exchange of master data (product, company) between supply chain entities to facilitate better information about products in supply chain operations, distribution receiving/pick/pack/ship activities, and other logistical operations 
• Enable better management of product status through the supply chain to support secure distribution, vendor managed inventory, and other closed-loop supply chain programs
• Ensure interoperability with supply and trade partners by supporting industry standards such as the Verification Router Service (VRS) network model and GS1 Saleable Returns standards, as well as numerous master data standards and industry master data management initiatives
• Meet the high-volume, high-velocity operations in today’s pharma supply chain to handle large serialization repositories, processing of verification requests from even the largest supply chain entities, and fast, automated verification turn-around to keep distribution operations moving without delay
• Help keep the supply chain secure by vetting verification requests from supply chain entities, leveraging the TraceLink Network of almost 300K entities, and actions by the TraceLink Network Services team in verifying onboarded network entities, 

Capabilities and Features

Product Information Manager's master data sharing and product verification capabilities enables the secure publishing and retrieval of product master data as well as publishing and verification of serialized product identifier data in a network-facing application which helps protect internal business systems and serialization repositories from high transaction network traffic and minimizes risk by keeping network transactions out of internal secure networks.

• Master Data Sharing
  • Provide access to and sharing of an extensive range of product, company, and partner master data between network partners including GS1 EPCIS Master Data Vocabulary via a publish / subscribe network model
  • Enable secure, permissioned-based access of master data through configurable data sharing rules by content producers to control data exchange
  • Support unique business operational infrastructures and network relationships with flexible data exchange capabilities that support fully integrated and manual data management options
• Product Verification
  • Support for the Verification Router Service network model and related GS1 standards, including both requestor and responder use cases for manufacturers, repackagers, wholesale distributors and pharmacy dispensers, and operational requirements for scalability and performance such as sub-second response time
  • Publication of serialization data and related product status to a secure network repository to enable verification requests by authorized supply chain parties
  • Publication and maintenance of product and company master data to the VRS Lookup Directory to enable network routing of verification requests by VRS systems to the right responder system and management of changing business operations and product ownership due to mergers/acquisitions, product portfolio changes, and other business activities
  • Verification of serialized product identification data, including GTIN, lot number, expiration date, and serial number, which may have been applied to product packaging to meet DSCSA compliance requirements or other business needs
  • Verification response management, including return of positive/negative verification state as well as additional status data on the product identifier such as “recalled”, “expired”, etc.
• Network and Data Management
  • Configure and control discoverability and access by a company's direct trade partners, indirect supply chain entities, and other organizations through various application
  • Deliver scalability to support companies and networks of diverse sizes, including repositories of billions of product identifiers, verification volumes of tens of thousands of verifications per second, and industry desires for sub-second response time