How is the current structure of Italian distribution channels enabling such a performance?
The core role of intermediate distribution is to ensure the right conservation, distribution and delivery of drugs in a capillary way throughout the territory. In Italy, each warehouse has two main daily peaks of activity; the first in the early afternoon, and the second at night, in addition to two intermediate emergency deliveries. Visiting a warehouse during one of these rush hours can give a clear idea of the amount of work required to achieve such goals. For instance, looking at the first shift, each distribution company receives the orders of hundreds of thousands of pharmacies by 12:30 pm and is ready to deliver to every single one in little less than two hours. During this timeframe, the goods go through four main steps -arrival, storage, preparation and expedition- before being finally delivered in sealed containers to the pharmacists’ hands. In practice, this process requires a highly organized logistic- that has almost reached perfection in Italy, due to two main success fac
