Track and Trace Solutions Market

Market Overview

The global track and trace solutions market size was worth USD 2.93 billion in 2021. It is estimated to reach an expected value of USD 14.3 Billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 19.30% during the forecast period (2022–2030). 

Track and trace solutions allow companies to track an individual product through the supply chain and trace it to its origin. Track and trace (T&T) systems help healthcare companies and organizations manage their supply chains more effectively while reducing the risks of counterfeit drugs. This process tracks the current and past location of the drug.

Rising concerns on brand protection due to product counterfeiting and theft of drugs in the pharmaceutical industry impact brand image and product reliability to contribute to market growth. Track and trace solutions enable pharmaceutical companies to track and trace compliance mandates easily, manage recalls better, and increase the overall efficiency of manufacturing processes.

Market Dynamics

Global Track and Trace Solutions Market Drivers

Increasing Focus of Manufacturers on Brand Protection to Spur Market Growth

The rising problem of counterfeiting and product theft has been growing worldwide, especially in developing countries such as China, South Africa, and India. The healthcare industry is adversely impacted and striving to ensure its products' reliability as the incidence of counterfeiting, and product theft is increasing. According to statistics, about 60 Pfizer products were counterfeited worldwide until 2016. The International Trade Administration estimated that the global counterfeit drug market size ranged from USD 75 billion to USD 200 billion and accounted for around 50% of all medicines sold in Asian and African countries.

A solution with automatic and non-line-of-sight capabilities is required to combat counterfeiting and identify massive product items. Preventing brand value has become a significant focus for building the business and maintaining product reliability. Thus, the increasing focus of pharmaceuticals and medical device manufacturers on brand protection is expected to drive market growth.

Increase in counterfeit goods

Increasingly, maintaining regulatory compliance has been necessary to preserve product authenticity globally. The use of track and trace systems has increased across numerous industries due to the global spread of counterfeit goods. The vast majority of industrialized nations have already adopted these strategies to reduce the risk of product recalls, disease outbreaks, brand tarnishing, and illegal parallel supply chains that encourage illegal logistics and crime. Track and trace technologies are becoming more widely adopted due to expanding governmental and regulatory initiatives. Serialization has long been the most common method for tracking and tracing products worldwide.

Global Track and Trace Solutions Market Restraints

High Cost for Implementation of Serialization and Aggregation

According to the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA), the market's top concerns are cost and implementation delay. Pharmaceutical businesses, medical device manufacturers, contract manufacturers, and packaging manufacturers must invest considerable capital in the Serialization and Aggregation of individual items.

While larger drug companies may have the financial resources to deal with Serialization's financial obligations, small and medium-sized businesses confront a more significant challenge. Many pharmaceutical firms know the costs of implementing new technology and processes.

Global Track and Trace Solutions Market Opportunity

Government Regulations and Standards for Implementation of Serialization to Boost Market Growth

Governments in many countries are working to approve specific laws to implement Serialization in track and trace systems to ensure supply chain efficiency in the healthcare sector. Also, government bodies focus on increasing serialization solutions in all pharmaceutical industries to reduce drug counterfeiting. Serialization is the significant step in ensuring compliance with new ePedigree regulations required for product traceability during the supply chain.

Many countries have set standards and regulations for serialization and aggregation implementation. Track and trace solutions in the supply chain for healthcare products are increasingly being adopted in China, Turkey, India, and the U.S. In China, China Food and Drug Administration exists for the pharmaceutical supply chain, in which serialization requirements involve the use of government-issued serial numbers, which are reported back to the database of their central government.

Segmental Analysis

The global track and trace solutions market is classified based on product, technology, application, end-user, and region.

The global track and trace solutions market has been segmented into software solutions and hardware systems based on product.

The software solutions segment accounted for the most significant share and is expected to grow at a CAGR of ~18.5% during the forecast period. Growing awareness about secure packaging, increasing counterfeit drugs, and associated products, and rising concerns about brand protection are all driving up software system adoption in the healthcare industry. In addition, government regulation is further supporting the growth of the market. Wide applications of software solutions for continuous management of manufacturing facilities, product lines, cases, bundle tracking, and warehousing and shipping are some factors accounting for the market's maximum share of the segment.

The global track and trace solutions market has been segmented based on technology into barcodes and RFID.

The barcode technology segment accounted for the largest share and is expected to grow at a CAGR of ~18.7% during the forecast period. The substantial revenue share can be attributable to technological developments and greater acceptance of 2D barcodes in pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical product packaging.

The RFID segment is anticipated to grow at the fastest CAGR during the forecast period. Numerous advancements in RFID technology, the rising use of RFID in managing product recalls, and the anticounterfeiting solution is all credited with the high growth of this market. The actions taken by regulatory bodies like the U.S. FDA have encouraged the pharmaceutical industry to use electronic product codes (EPC) with RFID for real-time tracking, tracing, and maintaining the authenticity of drugs to maintain a secure drug supply. These actions are anticipated to accelerate RFID adoption in the pharmaceutical supply chain.

The global track and trace solutions market has been segmented based on application into serialization solutions and aggregation solutions.

The serialization solution segment accounted for the largest revenue share and is expected to grow at a CAGR of ~18.7% during the forecast period. Improved and increasing focus of government bodies on the implementation of serialization solutions in supply chain and packaging in pharmaceutical companies drive the segment growth.

Based on end-user, the global track and trace solutions market is segmented into pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical companies, medical device companies, other healthcare end-users, the food and beverage industry, consumer goods, and luxury goods.

Pharmaceutical companies accounted for the largest share and are expected to grow at a CAGR of ~19.4% during the forecast period. The rising rate of drug counterfeiting resulted in the high adoption of track-and-trace solutions by pharmaceutical companies.

Impact of covid-19

COVID-19 is a viral infection that has been declared a global pandemic. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. Due to the pandemic, most countries worldwide have shut down their borders and limited transportation to contain the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, thus, imposing restrictions on international trade and transportation since the beginning of 2020. It affected the supply chain for the track and trace solutions market.

The virus has highlighted the importance of product tracking and tracing, resulting in a supply chain that helps minimize costs for pharmaceutical companies and reduces the cases of counterfeiting and black-marketing.

The move-in demand for medical devices forces the key players operating in the market to strategize their manufacturing capabilities, focus on new product development, and provide optimum supply chain strategies concentrated on COVID-19 essentials. Also, increasing pharmaceutical development, manufacturing, and packaging is expected to drive the adoption of track and trace solutions during the forecast period. Furthermore, players dealing in the medical devices market are modifying their long-term and short-term growth strategies by developing innovative products to combat the pandemic.

On the other hand, although the impact of COVID-19 on the track and trace solutions market is lower than on other medical devices markets, the timely development and implementation of contingency plans are essential for business operations. It will most likely be affecting vulnerable business models and growth opportunities for development.

Regional Analysis

Depending on the region, the market is analyzed in North America, Asia-Pacific, Europe, and LAMEA. North America dominates the market.

North America dominated the global track and trace solutions market. It accounted for 38.0% of the market share, owing to this region's highly regulated serialization and aggregation standards. Advanced healthcare infrastructure in the U.S. is driving market growth in the region. Also, the presence of big pharmaceutical companies such as Abbott, Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, and Roche, which have implemented track and trace solutions in their business model, is responsible for market growth.

The revenue share of North America in the global market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 18.0% during the forecast period.

The market in Asia-Pacific is expected to show the highest growth rate over the forecast period due to the high incidence rate of drug counterfeiting. According to INTERPOL, in 2015, illicit and falsified medicines worth over USD 7 million were seized in Asia. Thus, the need for track and trace solutions to protect against product counterfeiting is high. In addition, untapped opportunities in this region are expected to contribute to market growth. The Asia-Pacific track and trace solutions market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 21.3% during the forecast period.

Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Russia, Turkey, and the rest of Europe are the nations covered by the market for track and trace solutions in Europe. Because track and trace solutions are becoming more widely known in the region, the Europe region is expected to grow at the fastest rate during the forecast period. Due to increased government initiatives to combat drug counterfeiting by enforcing strict laws, Germany is the market leader in Europe for track and trace solutions.

Recent Developments

• In the 2022 Gartner® Magic QuadrantTM for Full Life Cycle API Management, Axway is positioned as a Leader.
• Axway and Blanc Labs joined forces in October 2022 to offer universal integrated open banking solutions.
• Verkor chose V-Trace in November 2022 to ensure the traceability and sustainability of its supply chain. V-Trace was developed in collaboration with Optel and Bureau Veritas.
• A suite of intelligent supply chain solutions for the food & beverage industry, OPTCHAINTM, was launched by OPTEL group in May 2022.

Track and Trace Solutions Market Segmentation

By Product

• Hardware Systems
  • Printing & Marking Solutions
  • Monitoring & Verification Solutions
  • Labelling Solutions
  • Others
• Software Solutions
  • Plant Manager Software
  • Line Controller Software
  • Bundle Tracking Software
  • Others

By Technology

• Barcodes
• RFID

By Application

• Serialization Solutions
• Label Serialization
• Bottle Serialization
• Carton Serialization
• Data Matrix Serialization
• Aggregation Solutions
• Bundle Aggregation
• Case Aggregation
• Pallet Aggregation

By End-User

• Pharmaceutical Biopharmaceutical Companies
• Medical Device Companies
• Other Healthcare End-Users
• Food and Beverage Industry
• Consumer Goods
• Luxury Goods

By Region

• North America
• Europe
• Asia-Pacific
• Middle East and Africa
• Central and South America