BSMA Conference to Showcase Innovative Collaboration Between KGI and Industry

As Keck Graduate Institute (KGI) students completing a Team Master’s Project (TMP), Madhumita Suresh and Leslie Maurer presented company executives with a set of recommendations to enhance supply chain processes. Now the 2019 Master of Business and Science (MBS) graduates will offer insights from their TMP to a wider audience of industry leaders attending the 12th Annual Bio Supply Management Alliance (BSMA) Conference in Burlingame, CA on October 15.

In the presentation, Suresh and Maurer will focus on a demand-driven clinical supply chain process called Make to Order, a concept widely used in other businesses but relatively new to the biopharmaceuticals industry which involves packaging and labeling drugs needed for clinical trials only after patient demand is realized. The potential benefit is a reduction in product waste or scrapping if patient participation is lower than expected.

“Make to Order is another process to look into and see how it would fit into a company’s needs,” says Suresh.

At the BSMA conference, more than 300 executives representing 220 companies—drug manufacturers, service and technology providers, and research and academic organizations—will have an opportunity to hear Suresh and Maurer share their insights and recommendations regarding Make to Order.

“The amount of product made for clinical trials is more than needed,” says Devendra Mishra, cofounder and executive director of BSMA, an organization created to foster innovation within the life science industry’s end-to-end supply chain.

“The students at KGI evaluated an alternate way to optimize product supply. I wanted to be sure they got a platform. I want to showcase how a university can and should work with industry to solve its problems.”

Both Suresh and Maurer appreciate the professional opportunity and visibility their presentation will provide. Suresh was able to attend the BSMA conference last year as a KGI student, to learn about emerging technologies and their integration in the business supply chain, but this is the first time Maurer will participate in the event.

“I will be attending the conference as well as presenting, so I will be able to go back to my team with anything interesting that I learn,” says Maurer. “This is the first time we’re professionals presenting to professionals. I’m excited to see the impact the presentation has on industry.”

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Interested in learning more about KGI’s Master of Business and Science program? Visit kgi.edu/mbs.