5 Key Considerations To Biopharma Supplier Risk Evaluation

By Paul Priebe

The supply interruptions and long lead times for critical process supplies during the pandemic prompted supply chain professionals to de-risk their supply chains. Dual sourcing is often cited as a risk management strategy, but in the regulated bioprocess and medical device industries, this approach may be difficult or impossible. In some cases, dual sourcing may not actually reduce the risk in the supply chain due to a common weak link for the first and second source. The strength of the supply chain cannot be a binary evaluation, with dual sourcing associated with strong and sole sourcing being weak. Each supplier has their own strengths and weaknesses, which impacts assurance of supply.

How should engineers and supply chain managers evaluate the assurance of supply programs of their current or potential suppliers? This blog outlines five key areas for consideration and proposes the creation of a relative risk evaluation score based on each factor.