Growth of logistics industry of medicines coming up in regulation

São Paulo-amid the economic downturn, disjointed regulations and unfair competition have great strength and drop transport sector performance. Without changes, the edges tend to continue slumping along with the number of companies specializing in the area.
With difficulty passing on costs to customers, logistic operators specialized feature margin loss since 2009. According to the survey "transport of Medicines in Brazil", the National Association of freight transport and logistics (NTC & logistics), the margin of the companies interviewed fell 43.8% in 2015, compared with 2009. "And the trend is to continue," says Vice President of RV Imola, Thiago Amaral. In the company, the prospect is of almost 18% in 2016, before 2015.
As well as the RV Imola, others are in the same situation. "We''re about 20 of the transport of medicines and 40% of the market is among 12 companies. If we observe the players from 10 years ago, few kept and if there is a change that can decrease even more, "says Amaral.
According to him, the transport-related costs (fuel, bargaining and lines of financing for purchase of vehicles) are increasingly high and, on the other hand, the transfer is difficult. "Like a lot of people idle, customers are renegotiating the contract," he says. In addition, the labor costs to operate the refrigerated trucks also is expensive.
"The problem is that not everyone has the same level of costs", he adds. According to him, the volume of carriers that are not from the area and does not meet all requirements is growing. These companies have found a loophole to enter the market due to the economic crisis. "Some laboratories have turned a blind eye," complains.
"With the crisis, quality control laboratories was lost somewhat", underscores the extraordinary technical Chamber Coordinator Vice President of transport of pharmaceutical products (TFARMA) of NTC & logistics, Clovis Gil.
A very common case, according to Gil, is the license required to act in the business which requires that carriers have permission from the national health surveillance agency (Anvisa) of each region will act. "But it has been common for some to carry out transportation with just one license," he says.
According to Gil, before the stipulated quality control who is able to perform the transport and, now, with the crisis some laboratories are analyzing the price. "Most still preserve the careful, but has other than" signals.
The problem is not just the lack of license in a region, but the lack of standardization of each local agency (Anvisa). "Each one has a different interpretation," says Thiago Amaral of RV Imola.
In this way, who''s just taking in only one irregular (less judicious) and who will want to take in all regions have difficulty of unifying operations. "Many times the regional technical understanding is different from that in turn is different from the federal", explains.
Supervision
This is not the only challenge the regulations. Yet in the opinion of Clovis Gil of NTC & logistics, lack of clarity and specificity of the rules is the main challenge of the sector. "Some resolutions (DRC) were adaptations of storage demands made to labs that often don''t make sense," he says.
Another issue is the lack of standardization in the shipment. "Some laboratories put 200 units in a box and others 25. The ideal would be to standardize the receiving and shipping. In addition, the packing standard that each has is different. "
On the other hand, he argues that has rules that may be required: as the requirement for refrigerated truck. "Brazil has continental dimension and the medicines must be in specific temperatures to not lose its properties."
So that the measures will be reviewed, along with a consultant is working on standardizing rules that are in the final stage. "We must Still present the booklet to Associates, but later we will take to the Anvisa in Brasilia," he says.
Alternatives
To be able to grow, the RV Imola held a reshaping of the logistics that required closing 100 stores. "Now the cities were served by they do through other units," explains Thiago Amaral of RV Imola. According to the Executive, with the reduction of fixed costs was possible 30% reduction in spending. "Even though I have now variable costs, which are higher, to meet these cities, only have to pay when I have load. With that, I ended up winning margin, "he says.
The expectation for 2017 is the new help in restructuring revenue growth, this year should be 120 million R$.