by Aytac Atac

Factories around the world are experiencing one of two emergencies during the COVID-19 pandemic. They are either experiencing demand surge (e.g., personal protection equipment – PPE, hand sanitizers, essential pharmaceuticals) or demand loss (e.g., automotive, oil & gas products, non-essential consumer goods). In either case, factories need to respond fast & effectively to the change in demand/supply balance by increasing their capacities to meet the demand or decreasing their costs to stay profitable. In the new & more volatile post-pandemic economy, the factories would need to be more agile to scale up or down their capacities and costs, as needed, to simply maintain competitiveness and stay in the business.

by Banu Ozkaya

In response to the recent #FDA #announcement to delay enforcement of the “Wholesale Distributor Verification Requirement for Saleable Returned Drug Product (VRS) – Compliance Policy” for one year from November 27, 2019, to November 27, 2020, Supply Chain Wizard offers the guidance.

by Banu Ozkaya

Traceability in supply chains implies the potential to track materials, products and goods along the value chain, from the origin to the end consumer. This is sometimes necessary for certain products and industries such as pharma, aircrafts and food where the visibility can deliver considerable value to both the company and the end consumer. This concept has been around for some time now but it would be fair to say it has gained more traction in recent years. Companies whether due to regulation or social responsibility are now increasingly interested in track-and-trace systems that make their supply chains more transparent, traceable and visible to partners.

by Murat Saglam

Today, organizations can experience a similar data literacy problem. By going digital, they have the “data”, the “words” at hand, but the “value”, a “meaningful sentence“ comes only with real “digital transformation”.

by Murat Saglam

If you think animals instinctively know everything to survive from birth, you are wrong. Many essential tools in the survival kit are acquired by adaptation, more precisely put, by learning, and learning is what we call structured, planned adaptation.

by Barry Brown & Evren Ozkaya

In response to the recent FDA announcement to delay enforcement of the Serialization Compliance Deadline for one year from November 27, 2017, to November 27, 2018, Supply Chain Wizard offers the following guidance:

by Evren Ozkaya on 06 March 2017

This interview is previously posted on Supply Chain Expert Community

Prior to Supply Chain Wizard, I was an executive in a pharmaceutical manufacturer in the supply chain practice. And prior to the pharma industry, I was with McKinsey & Company as a consultant in their supply chain management practice, serving clients involved in vital industries, including healthcare, medical devices, logistics, consumer packaged goods, and a little bit of private equity.

by Evren Ozkaya on 24 October 2016

Last week in Boston the world of Pharmaceutical Supply Chain and Serialization was meeting around Tracelink’s Customer Conference Nexus 16.

by Evren Ozkaya on 06 June 2016

We are all about to lose our jobs to few smart dudes who are able to write computer programs and automate/actuate real-world processes with the help of their fellow robots.

by Evren Ozkaya on 29 February 2016

For those of you who know me on a personal level, know that I don't watch TV. Thanks to my geeky obsession with efficiency & value, after I calculated our "utilization" of paid cable TV being less than 1%, I unplugged the service 5+ years ago. Last New Year's Eve, I made the mistake to order Cable TV again, just for that night, so we can watch some entertainment for that special night.

by Evren Ozkaya on 21 September 2015

We have opened our new office in Istanbul, Turkey. In June 2015, Turkish Ministry of Economy approved SCW's application to establish a Regional Management Center in Turkey. This opening is part of SCW's global growth strategy to further improve client service and support in Europe, Middle East and Africa Region's pharmaceutical markets.

by Evren Ozkaya on 24 May 2015

Since my "official" consulting journey started back with McKinsey & Company, and now continues with my own venture at Supply Chain Wizard into the endless and exciting world of challenges and opportunities, I had the privilege to see so many different consulting projects, programs, initiatives in various countries, companies and industries, that I think it is time for me to look back and tell a few words about consulting.

by Evren Ozkaya on 27 February 2015

It is exactly one year ago today that I started Supply Chain Wizard, a management and technology consulting company. Legalzoom.com sent the approval letters from State of New Jersey via email. I was sitting next to and across from senior executives from major Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Solution Providers during a conference dinner in San Diego, California. At that moment, I remember, I was pretty optimistic about the future of this company, as I read the Certificate of Formation on my phone. I was off to a good start, having been a panelist in that conference as an industry expert and getting a chance to interact with future clients right from day 1.

by Evren Ozkaya on 19 December 2014

uber - The ultimate, above all, the best, top, something that nothing is better than (Source: urbandictionary.com).
On Monday, I had my third Uber ride going from home to the airport in Atlanta. My first Uber ride was last month in Rome, Italy - also going to the airport. And if it wasn't Uber, we were missing our flights to US, because there were NO available taxis in Rome after standing in one of the busiest intersections and waving to tens of taxis passing by with passengers in them for more than 30 minutes! I installed the Uber app while still waiting a taxi in that intersection, and my problem is solved in 7 minutes.

by Evren Ozkaya on 18 December 2014

Introducing Serialization Wizard, a web-based Strategic Planning and Budgeting tool specifically designed for Pharmaceutical Track & Trace (Serialization) Programs to help companies meet global regulatory requirements cost-effectively.

by Evren Ozkaya on 08 December 2014

I am flying over the Atlantic Ocean from Berlin back to Atlanta. Still few hours to land, so I have some quiet time away from distracting phone / email to put down my thoughts on paper about what keeps me and our company busy : Track & Trace in Pharmaceutical Industry.

by Evren Ozkaya on 25 August 2014

Today makes us a half-a-year old company! I have a lot to share with the start-up community and future entrepreneurs already (beyond what I have already written about: Work-life balance, Productivity). But let's talk about the most recent and intriguing insight now.

by Evren Ozkaya on 18 July 2014

I have been waiting for this day. Finally, I could have the chance to look back and analyze all of my time-tracking (last 142 days to be exact) and see "how much" I was working vs. well, enjoying life's other tasks during this early start-up phase.
I got scared from all the horror stories of demanding work, over-worked founders, sleepless nights... and so on. Just check these Entrepreneur, Inc and Forbes articles out and you know what I mean.

by Evren Ozkaya on 05 July 2014

That's it. I get it. There is a certain "way" of writing blog articles to get "most number of reads and shares". Look at the all-time most-viewed blog posts at LinkedIn:
11 Simple Concepts...
6 Toxic Behaviors...
No. 1 Career Mistake...
Three things I learned...
10 Things to do...

by Evren Ozkaya on 26 June 2014

I should be tired. It is 2:30 am in Philadelphia.
Today, I drove my car for 8 hours and 33 minutes, mostly in circles. It was a long day. But, I achieved a lot:
Please, do not try to make sense of the route (or lack thereof), as it was mostly last minute meetings put together on the fly. And it turned out to be a terrible route, but a fun & productive day.