Alternative Supply Chain Strategies Companies Should Prioritize

In the final part of his conversation with Pharmaceutical Executive, Jeff Golfman, founder and president of Send 123 pushes beyond the simple idea of “add more suppliers” and instead advocates for data-driven, structural changes to how organizations understand and configure their supply chains. At Send 123, one foundational tactic is meticulously tracking the country of manufacture for every product on the platform. This enables a detailed geographic risk profile of a company’s supply base.

Golfman recommends that organizations conduct a similar self-audit or expert-led audit to map out exactly where their supplies originate. If too much volume is tied to a single country or region, they are inherently exposed to any political, economic, or environmental disruption there. Visibility, he argues, is the prerequisite to meaningful diversification.

He also urges a move away from rigid just-in-time expectations toward longer lead times and strategic inventory buffers. Rather than aiming for the fastest possible turnover in all cases, companies should consciously hold inventory where the risk/impact of disruption is high.

Golfman then critiques the common RFP/RFQ tender model, where procurement decisions are often reduced to lowest unit price. That approach, he says, ignores vital variables such as payment terms, quality, environmental performance, delivery reliability, and user satisfaction. Instead, he champions a collaborative procurement model: shortlist two or three vendors, go deep with them, and co-create best-fit solutions.

In this view, “best” no longer means cheapest headline quote, but rather the best overall outcome across cost, risk, service, and longevity. By combining geographic audits, inventory strategy, AI-enabled decision tools, and collaborative vendor relationships, companies can build far more robust supply chains than simple multi-supplier checklists can deliver.