DCAT Research & Benchmarking

DCAT Research & Benchmarking

DCAT’s 2025–2026 Study: 
Creating Value Beyond Product and Price in the Pharma Customer-Supplier Relationship

The Drug, Chemical & Associated Technologies Association (DCAT) and its Research & Benchmarking Committee will release its latest study, Creating Value Beyond Product and Price in the Pharma Customer-Supplier Relationship, in March 2026 at DCAT Week.  

 In a highly competitive environment, providing value beyond core deliverables of quality and price is crucial for CDMOs and materials suppliers to maintain and gain an edge with their bio/pharma customers, but do bio/pharma companies and their suppliers agree on what constitutes value-added enhancements?

Although bio/pharma companies look for innovation from CDMOs and materials suppliers, are they providing what bio/pharma companies are seeking? And more importantly, who, how, and when are value-added enhancements factored into the price and cost structure of a given project?  

Gain valuable insights from the study, which provides a “buy-and-sell-side view” on: 

  • What Constitutes Value Creation? Are there particular services or situations for which value-added enhancements are more likely to be offered than for other services? Is there a trend to offer value-adding services more frequently? Less frequently? 
  • Who Incurs the Cost of Value Creation? In what situations or for what types of enhancements are bio/pharma customers most likely to be willing to share the costs for value-adding enhancements? When are they least likely to be willing to share the costs? 
  • How is Value Creation Measured? When value-adding enhancements are proposed during the sourcing/procurement process, how formally are they evaluated? Is there a formal cost/benefit analysis done or is the evaluation more subjective? 

This report will be followed by four informational briefings throughout 2026 to provide further insights on this very important topic. 

DCAT Research & Benchmarking Report Archives

Click here to request a prior year report (see below for topics).

What Makes a Customer of Choice: Are Pharma Companies & Suppliers Aligned? (2025)
In today’s complex supply chain landscape, strong customer-supplier relations are a strategic must. Evaluating supplier performance is common, but what about the performance of customers to their suppliers? This report explores an all-important dynamic: What does it take to become a Preferred Customer or a “Customer of Choice” of suppliers, what benefits accrue, and are customers and suppliers aligned in their expectations?

The Emerging Role of AI in Supply Chain Management (2024)
Gain insight into how will AI change the way bio/pharma companies and their suppliers will do business, how AI is now being used in supply chain management, and its potential in furthering the customer-supplier relationship.

Envisioning Bio/Pharma Sourcing and Supply Chain Management in 2030 (2023)
Gain executive views on their vision for the supply-chain organization of the future: what bio/pharma sourcing and supply-chain functions will look like, how suppliers can prepare for changing customer expectations, and how the role of suppliers will evolve.

Incorporating Sustainability in the Bio/Pharmaceutical Supply Chain (2022) 
Examines the driving factors surrounding sustainability and the progress being made toward sustainability in the supply chain (including manufacturing, packaging, and logistics) in the bio/pharma industry.

Managing Business Continuity Risks (2021)
Details how Bio/pharmaceutical companies and suppliers are managing business continuity risks resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and how lessons learned are affecting their approach to supply-risk management overall.

Managing Bio/Pharma Supply Chains in an Uncertain Global Trade Environment (2020)
Provides insights on whether bio/pharma companies and their suppliers believe the deteriorating trade environment is a major threat, and what they are doing to confront the real and potential risks to their supply chains.

Examining the Current and Future Alignment of the Pharma Customer—Supplier Relationship (2019)
Evaluates the current and near-future imperatives for both pharma customers and suppliers, highlighting areas of alignment and misalignment and the opportunities for improvement.

Value-Based Metrics: Examining the Pharma Customer—Supplier Relationship (2018)
Examines the practices and key metrics used by both pharma companies and suppliers to measure the benefits of value-creation activities in the supply of direct materials.

Value Creation in Pharmaceutical Procurement (2017)
Surveying the CPOs of large to mid-sized pharma companies, the study examines Procurement’s role internally and with suppliers to deliver value for achieving corporate and business goals.

About DCAT Research & Benchmarking

DCAT Research & Benchmarking is a complimentary, value-added member benefit providing in-depth studies that examine the crucial issues impacting the bio/pharmaceutical business ecosystem and the bio/pharma customer—supplier relationship. DCAT Research & Benchmarking studies are developed by the DCAT Research & Benchmarking Committee, composed of member representatives with diverse industry experience, to identify the topics of greatest interest for DCAT Member Companies and is administered and prepared using an external research firm.