Pharmacy is changing fast. At the recent NACDS Total Store Expo, the theme of Now, New & Next captured what supply chain leaders told us about today’s challenges, emerging trends, and future innovations. Here are the key themes we heard throughout the event.
Now: Central Fill, Micro-Fulfillment & Workforce Pressures
Pharmacies are under serious strain with script volumes, workforce shortages, and expanding clinical services. Central fill and micro-fulfillment are helping decouple prescription production from the point of care, freeing pharmacists to practice at the top of their license rather than perform repetitive tasks like counting pills.
Why it matters:
- Central fill improves speed and accuracy while freeing up pharmacists for more meaningful, patient-facing work.
- Micro-fulfillment supports fast, local delivery without overloading front-of-store teams.
- Burnout is driving pharmacists away, creating workforce risks that automation can help relieve.
Opportunities for leaders:
- Deploy robotics like the Tompkins Robotics tSort for automated sorting and packaging of individual prescriptions
- Combine automation with predictive refill algorithms to pre-fill common prescriptions.
- Add tech tools for verification, labeling, and documentation to give pharmacists back their time.
New: Pharmacy Moves Into the Home & Rural Care Models
The role of the pharmacy is expanding beyond the counter. As aging patients look to “age in place,” at-home pharmacy services are becoming essential. At the same time, rural communities are relying on pharmacies as critical healthcare infrastructure amid hospital closures and physician shortages.
Why it matters:
- At-home care requires a fulfillment model more like e-commerce: think unit-dose packaging, delivery tracking, and compliance.
- Rural pharmacies aren’t just dispensing—they’re becoming hubs for diagnostics, chronic care, immunization, and telepharmacy.
Opportunities for leaders:
- Build small-scale, fulfillment hubs with automation for redundant fulfillment processes like sorting, packing and feature delivery integration.
- Offer service-level agreements (SLAs) for home delivery windows and refills.
- Use data to prioritize rural inventory and develop mobile or remote dispensing models.
Next: Real-Time Inventory & Intelligent Supply Chains
Tomorrow’s competitive edge lies in connected, automated, and intelligent supply chains. Inventory blind spots create both waste and stockouts, and outdated systems can’t keep up with demand variability.
Why it matters:
- Real-time visibility enables better demand forecasting, procurement, and replenishment cycles.
- Connected systems prevent overstock and stockouts across all locations.
Opportunities for leaders:
- Deploy cloud-based, pharmacy-level inventory management.
- Integrate demand signals such as prescribing patterns and seasonal trends into forecasting.
- Leverage RFID or shelf-level sensors in high-turn locations to automate tracking.