Lean thinking in medical commodities supply chains: applicability and success factors for Tanzanian health supply chains

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to examine lean thinking in medical commodities supply chains by considering its applications and success factors. It determines the drivers and wastes of medical commodity supply chain, and the existing lean tools and practices together with their application in the supply chain processes. The paper also examined the challenges and success factors for effective lean application in the medical commodities supply chains. Design/methodology/approach The study used qualitative approaches, in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with key informants to form the basis for data collection. Through thematic analysis, the collected data were analyzed by developing themes reflecting the objectives of the study. Findings The main drivers for waste associated with the supply chain were demand management, supplier development, institutional framework and governance. The wastes were observed at the level of inventory, operation costs, transaction costs, delays in terms of service, commodity delivery time and quality. Digitalization, information technology and standardization were the tools for medical supply chain. Poor infrastructure, unreliable internet supply, environmental uncertainty and poor management support were challenges to realizing an effective supply chain. Research limitations/implications Although the qualitative approach used in the study provides detailed information, a quantitative study covers a larger sample for generalization. Practical implications Capacity building and professionalism should be given a priority because the philosophy of lean focuses on waste removal and continuous improvement, which highly depends on the quality of human resource (Brito et al., 2020). Limited human resource capabilities in supply chain management will, therefore, result into poor operational efficiency, which are wasted. Moreover, systems interoperability is key waste minimization and, therefore, demands interventions. Social implications The government under the Ministry of Health and other key sector ministries such as local and regional governments should better understand the role of the waste drivers and adopt system-wide reforms to support improvements to remove waste in the medical supply chain. For example, the current institutional framework creates an administrative block and hence leads to wastes. This bureaucratic procedure should be removed to minimize wastes along the chain. Originality/value This study is among the first studies to determine applicability and implementation of lean in a resource-constrained context. The paper identifies contextual factors for lean implementation. This paper focused on a holistic view of the entire supply chains to enhance a well-functioning supply chain in delivering health commodities.

Enhancement the Performance of Multi-Level and Multi-Commodity in Supply Chain: A Simulation Approach

“…) (26) Then relevant entity enters into the deciding module to determine the amount of new order for manufacturer's inventory level and central warehouse by using the following equation:…”

“…If equation (25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32) is satisfied, the manufacturer could respond to distributor's order. After meeting the ordering, the inventory levels of the manufacturer and distributor should be updated.…”

“…But, if equation(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32)) is satisfied, it means that the central warehouse could respond to distributor's order. After meeting the relevant main warehouse's ordering, the inventory levels distributor must update the inventory level updates using the Assign module.…”

Integrated DEMATEL-ML approach for implementing lean supply chain in manufacturing sector

“…Previous studies have contributed to LSCM literature reviews (Jasti and Kodali, 2015;Ugochukwu et al, 2012), lean practices, lean barriers, lean enablers, and lean six sigma critical success factors (Ali et al, 2020;Berger et al, 2018;Borges et al, 2019;Khorasani et al, 2020;Raval et al, 2021;Sharma et al, 2021). Recent studies have analyzed LSCM performance (Garcia-Buendia et al, 2022), lean, green, and agile practices in supply chains (Saeed and Shoukat, 2023), lean applications to improve supply chains performance through Industry 4.0 principles (Rana and Jani, 2023) and lean thinking in medical commodities supply chain (Kessy et al, 2024). According to (Oliveira-Dias et al, 2022), the use of digital technologies and IT tools are important for monitoring manufacturing processes, optimizing the flow of resources during production, and identifying problems or causes of downtime in real time.…”

“…Recent studies have analyzed LSCM performance (Garcia-Buendia et al. , 2022), lean, green, and agile practices in supply chains (Saeed and Shoukat, 2023), lean applications to improve supply chains performance through Industry 4.0 principles (Rana and Jani, 2023) and lean thinking in medical commodities supply chain (Kessy et al. , 2024).…”