Let’s talk straight about what’s really working in track and trace solutions in the pharma supply chain.

Your daily reality includes pressure from all sides: regulators demanding more documentation, executives expecting miracles with shrinking budgets and counterfeiters getting smarter by the day. Many of you are stuck with track and trace solutions that create more problems than they solve—manual processes eating up your team’s time, systems that refuse to communicate across your network and costs that keep climbing year after year.

The Systech 2025 benchmark report, “Unlocking value in supply chain track and trace solutions,” confirms what you’re already experiencing on the ground. After speaking with more than 100 pharma organizations, the data shows you’re not alone in your frustrations.  This is why many of your peers are increasingly turning to track and trace solutions like Systech’s UniTrace® to address their top priorities and pain points: systems that withstand regulatory scrutiny, seamlessly integrate across complex supply networks and deliver real value without budget-breaking costs.

Key insight 1: Persistent dissatisfaction with existing track and trace solutions

Even if you’ve implemented track and trace solutions and serialization systems, chances are they’re not delivering as promised. Our report reveals that 42% of respondents are drowning in validation paperwork every time a system needs updating or regulatory patches get released. Nearly as many (41%) report wasting precious hours on manual rework (processes that your track and trace solutions were supposed to eliminate). All while 34% of respondents expressed frustration with hidden costs—surprise fees and unpredictable pricing models that can wreck carefully planned budgets.

Worse? The frustrations don’t stop there: data exchange errors plague 31% of companies, while slow vendor support (21%) and system downtime (20%) leave you hanging when problems arise. These aren’t isolated complaints either.

Key insight 2: Integration challenges hamper efficiency

Track and trace solutions don’t integrate with other systems as well as they should. Respondents gave current integration satisfaction a dismal 1.94 out of 5—the lowest score across all satisfaction metrics. The impact runs deep, driving nearly 40% of companies to consider jumping ship to new vendors entirely. When choosing new partners, seamless interoperability has become a make-or-break factor, with both seamless interoperability and ease of implementation tied at 24%.

The real-world consequences hit hard: mismatched data across systems, cobbled-together inefficient workflows and expensive workarounds just to keep operations moving.

Key insight 3: Compliance reliability is the top priority

When DSCSA, EU-FMD or other global serialization mandates come into play, everything else takes a back seat. The numbers speak volumes: 81% of respondents ranked compliance reliability as their top priority when selecting track and trace solutions.

That’s why your peers overwhelmingly seek solutions offering automated exception handling, bulletproof audit trails and regulatory updates that easily install without triggering another validation nightmare. The stakes couldn’t be higher: compliance failures mean potential penalties that devastate budgets, product recalls that destroy timelines and reputation damage that can linger for years.

Key insight 4: The demand for cost transparency and predictable pricing

A revealing 42% of companies cite total cost of ownership (TCO) as their primary reason for switching vendors. The financial pain runs deep, with 34% of respondents expressing frustration over hidden costs that ambush their budgets—surprise charges for unavoidable system updates, fees for adding team members, or unexpected costs for features they thought came standard.

The verdict from industry leaders leaves no doubt: modern track and trace solutions must deliver both dramatically lower TCO and crystal-clear, scalable pricing that supports your operations as they grow and evolve—without any surprises.

Key insight 5: A strong vendor partnership is essential

Software alone solves nothing—you also need real humans standing behind those track and trace solutions. The survey exposes a glaring disconnect: vendor support earned a pathetic 2.02 out of 5 rating, landing among the lowest-scored categories.

More revealing, over a quarter (26%) of companies cite poor vendor support as their direct motivation for shopping around. Your operations don’t pause while support teams deliberate. Your deadlines don’t shift because your vendor can’t troubleshoot.

The message from industry leaders rings unmistakably clear: you deserve partners who provide lightning-fast issue resolution, push critical compliance updates before you even ask and guide your team through implementation without abandoning you afterward.

Stop settling for track and trace solutions that hold you back

The findings from the Systech 2025 benchmark report leave zero room for interpretation—pharma companies across the board are actively hunting for better track and trace solutions right now. You deserve platforms that slash operational annoyances, seamlessly connect with existing systems, guarantee rock-solid compliance and come with transparent and sensible pricing models. The regulatory pressure keeps mounting, counterfeiting grows more sophisticated, and supply chains become more complex by the second.

Leading companies have already made their move. UniTrace® track and trace solution from Systech directly tackles each pain point uncovered in our report—delivering the integration your operations crave, compliance automation that lets you rest easier and pricing that finance teams approve without a fight. No wonder 85% of the top 20 global pharmaceutical companies trust Systech’s track and trace solutions to protect their products and reputations.

Ready to transform your traceability strategy? Download the complete benchmark report et contact Systech today to learn more about what we can do to help you.