#22 - Gianluigi Pianta, Global Supply Chain Director

It’s often said that automotive is the toughest school for those working in supply chain.

Gianluigi Pianta, Global Supply Chain Director with over 30 years of experience across pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and automotive, sees it differently: today, the real test is the pharma sector.

The key issue is sourcing chemical materials. Both chemical intermediates (synthetic semi-finished products) and raw chemical materials come from China and India, with suppliers who are not always "reliable." And for the past six years—between Covid, the Suez Canal situation, and tensions in the Middle East—maritime transport punctuality has struggled to return to pre-pandemic levels.

Gianluigi's comparison of the three sectors:

• Cosmetics: very high number of SKUs, fast-paced product launches
• Automotive: the supply chain is mostly driven by tier-1 suppliers
• Pharmaceuticals: fewer SKUs, but sourcing raw materials is much more critical

This is why nearshoring is currently harder in pharmaceuticals than in automotive: the European chemical supply chain has been largely depleted.