Track and Trace Solutions Market Analysis Report By Product (Hardware, Software), Technology (Barcodes, RFID), Application (Serialization, Aggregation), End-use, And Segment Forecasts, 2018 - 2025

Industry Insights

The global track and trace solutions market size was estimated at USD 1.4 billion in 2016 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 15.9% during the forecast period. Solutions used for track and trace are vital in the medical devices industry as they provide accurate location of devices at the present and previously. Medical devices go through a long and tedious journey from the manufacturing units to various end use settings. The use of track and trace solutions has been quintessential in the distribution and logistics of various medical device equipment.

Escalating focus brought upon by manufacturers of medical devices and pharmaceuticals, favorable government regulations for serialization implementation, coupled with untapped market opportunities in emerging countries are some of the key factors propelling market growth in the industry. The only drawback associated with the implementation of track and trace solutions is the high cost associated with these products and devices which may hamper market growth.

The track and trace solutions market has a prosperous future with increasing deployment of these solutions by medical devices and pharmaceutical drugs manufacturers. With rapid adoption of these solutions globally, it is estimated that about 75% of the global medicine supply would be covered by track and trace regulatory norms in near future.

One of the major problems faced by large scale pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical companies is drug counterfeiting. To ensure that brands get a share of brand recognition, they are adopting the use of these solutions in supply chain monitoring.

According to statistics, about 60 different Pfizer products were being counterfeited worldwide until 2014. These problems have been growing globally, typically in developing countries such as China, South Africa, and India. International Trade Administration estimated that the global counterfeit drug market size ranges from USD 75 billion to USD 200 billion and accounted for around 50% of all medicines sold in some Asian and African countries.

Counterfeit drugs and theft are hazardous and result in financial harm and unfair competition in both generic and branded drugs. With the advent of track and trace solutions, this problem is expected to be eradicated to a very large extent propelling its increasing adoption among drug manufacturers.

Product Insights

On the basis of products, the track and solutions market is segmented into hardware systems and software solutions. Hardware systems are further sub-divided into printing and marking, monitoring and verification, labelling, and others. The other products considered in the hardware systems market consist of checkweighers, RFID readers, and barcode scanners. The software considered in the study comprise of plant manager software, line controller software, bundle tracking software, and others. The other software solutions considered in the report are warehouse and shipment manager and case tracking software. 

Software solutions held the largest share in 2016 due to its growing adoption in healthcare industry. This segment dominated the overall market in terms of revenue in 2016 with 56% market share. Rising popularity of software for continuous management of manufacturing facilities, product lines, case & bundle tracking, and warehousing & shipping are some factors accounting for its maximum share in the market.

Hardware systems used for track and trace are printing and marking systems, monitoring and verification systems, labeling systems, checkweighers, RFID readers, and barcode scanners. Printing and marking solutions segment held the largest revenue share in track and trace hardware systems market. The demand and adoption rate of printing and marking solutions is very high, which is a major factor that has contributed to its high revenue share.

Printing and marking solutions systems are required to print texts, barcodes, data matrix codes, product information, logos, batch numbers, best-before dates, tracking & quality assurance data for, and other required information. Barcode scanner is used in track and trace system to inspect linear and 2D barcodes. The demand for 2D barcode scanner is higher than linear barcode scanner due to more use of 2D barcode tags in the market.

Technology Insights

Based on technology, the track and trace solutions market is segmented into barcodes and RFID technologies. Barcodes technology reported largest revenue share of the track and trace solutions sector in 2015. The 2D barcode is the largest segment of barcodes technology and is expected to maintain its position throughout the study period. The increased application of 2D barcodes in pharmaceutical & biopharmaceutical product packaging is a major factor that contributed to the higher revenue share. Also, higher data storage capacity of 2D barcodes than linear barcodes, as well as its higher popularity in the industry boosts the demand for 2D barcode-based solutions.

Government regulations and growing rate of drug counterfeits have led to the implementation of barcode technology in the healthcare industry. Thus, the demand for barcodes technology in track and trace solutions market is high and is expected to remain elevated during forecast period.

RFID technology delivers an immediate way to retrieve product information, track products in the supply chain, and offers assistance in order to avoid unnecessary costs associated with counterfeiting or theft of products. The need of RFID in healthcare track and trace is growing at increasing pace due to the increasing need for smart packaging in this sector, propelling its market growth.

Application Insights

On the basis of application, the track and trace solutions market is segmented into serialization and aggregation solutions. Serialization segment includes label serialization, bottle serialization, carton serialization, and data matrix serialization. On the other hand, aggregation solutions comprise of bundle aggregation, case aggregation, and pallet aggregation.

Aggregation in track and trace involves building the parent-child association, as products move through various packaging stages of the supply chain. Aggregation devices can include printers & labelers, reject stations, cameras reader, standalone printers, and handheld readers. Aggregation solutions are required to optimize the production and supply chain practices for efficient management of product transfers in between supply chain.

End use Insights

Based on end use, the track and trace solutions market is segmented into pharmaceutical companies, medical devices companies, and others. The other end use settings considered in the study consist of blood banks, cosmetic industry, and clinical and research laboratories. Pharmaceutical companies are estimated to lead the market in terms of revenue as well as growth rate. The rising rate of drug counterfeiting resulted in high adoption of track and trace by pharmaceutical industry.

The pharmaceutical companies end-use segment includes both pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical manufacturers. Pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical companies have to deal with challenges in supply chain security, like product theft, diversion, counterfeiting, and product recalls. Supply chain security lapses of companies adversely affect the profits, brand credibility, and consumer health. Ensuring safe product track and trace abilities across various entities throughout the supply chain by implementing serialization is a crucial step to address the challenges faced by the pharmaceuticals industry.

Regional Insights

North America is the predominant regional sector and accounted for the largest revenue share in 2016, primarily due to presence of highly regulated serialization & aggregation standards, as well as advanced healthcare infrastructure. North America region includes the U.S. and Canada. North America accounted for a large share of the global track and trace solutions market owing to presence of highly regulated serialization & aggregation standards, as well as advanced healthcare infrastructure. In September 2013, the Drug Quality and Security Act H.R. 3204 was approved by Senate as the U.S. federal law. According to this law, according to which manufacturers, wholesalers, and repackages needed to provide and/or receive pedigree for each transaction.

Asia Pacific is expected to exhibit the highest growth rate due to high incidence of counterfeit drugs in the developing Asian countries like China & India. China’s track and trace laws and regulations mandate serialization & tracking throughout supply chain and compulsory compliance reporting to the China Food and Drug Administration for all pharmaceuticals since December 31, 2015.

Track & Trace Solutions Market Share Insights

Some major players catering to the track and trace solutions market are Axway; Mettler-Toledo International, Inc.; Optel Vision; TraceLink, Inc.; Adents International; Antares Vision srl; Siemens AG; Seidenader Maschinenbau GmbH; ACG Worldwide; and Systech, Inc. There are various small and large manufacturers offering products for tracking and tracing applications, resulting in intense competition among vendors.

Axway is a leading player in the market that offers TraceLink Life Sciences Cloud, which is used by around 16 of the top 20 pharmaceutical companies including Sanofi and Genzyme. The Life Sciences Cloud solution provides a high-quality supply chain control by delivering the needed information and insight to improve supply chain performance. The company is also focusing on strategic collaboration and acquisition to maintain its dominance in the industry. In February 2017, Axway acquired the Syncplicity to enhance its AMPLIFY platform.

Report Scope

Segments covered in the report

This report forecasts revenue growth at global, regional & country levels and provides an analysis on the latest trends and opportunities in each of the sub-segments from 2014 to 2025. Grand View Research has segmented the global track and trace solutions market report by product, technology, application, end use, and region:

• Product Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2014 - 2025)

  • Hardware Systems Solutions

    • Printing & marking

    • Monitoring & verification

    • Labeling

    • Others

  • Software Solutions

    • Plant manager software

    • Line controller software

    • Bundle tracking software

    • Others

• Technology Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2014 - 2025)

  • Barcode          

  • RFID

• Application Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2014 - 2025)

  • Serialization solutions

    • Bottle serialization

    • Label serialization

    • Carton serialization

    • Data matrix serialization

  • Aggregation Solutions

    • Bundle aggregation

    • Case aggregation

    • Pallet aggregation

• End-use Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2014 - 2025)

  • Pharmaceutical companies

  • Medical device companies

  • Others

• Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2014 - 2025)

  • North America

    • U.S.

    • Canada

  • Europe

    • UK

    • Germany

  • Asia Pacific

    • China

    • India

  • Latin America

    • Brazil

    • Mexico

  • Middle East and Africa

    • South Africa