Strategic issues in pharmaceutical supply chains: a review

Abstract

Purpose In the present context of a health-concious society, management of pharmaceutical supply chains has become more complex because it involves the life-saving interest of human being and requires the participation of different stakeholders such as pharmaceutical manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors, customers, information service providers and regulatory agencies. Limited research is available in the area of pharmaceutical supply chains. This paper aims to find the gaps in the literature by reviewing research papers on different strategic issues of supply chain management in the pharmaceutical sector. Design/methodology/approach In total, 136 research papers, mainly from refereed international journals, were reviewed to identify the issues of supply chain management (SCM) in the pharmaceutical supply chain. On the basis of a review, gaps are identified and research agenda is proposed. Findings It is observed from review that the pharmaceutical sector is not widely researched in developing countries because of many complexities in this supply chain. The share of pharmaceutical firms in the global market is also not very significant. Based on an extensive review of pharmaceutical supply chains, research gaps are identified in different areas such as inventory management, new product development, process development, capacity planning, network design, plant design, pipeline and development management, outsourcing logistics activities, reverse logistics, Lean manufacturing, green SCM and implementation of E-business processes and performance management. These strategic issues have been further classified into three broad categories, i.e. resources, processes and performance. Originality/value This paper explores major strategic areas of pharmaceutical supply chains for research. Findings of the paper will be highly useful for researchers to decide direction of future research.

O Papel Da Política Nacional Dos Resíduos Sólidos Na Logística Reversa Em Empresas Farmacêuticas

“…Com a falta de interesse por parte das empresas, existe a possibilidade da implantação do processo de logística reversa demorar a ser implantado, comprometendo o meio ambiente, como previsto por Singh et al (2016).…”

“…A participação da sociedade ainda é pequena e a reeducação em seus hábitos faz-se necessária para que um projeto desta magnitude consiga gerar sustentabilidade, conforme citado por Diniz e Abreu (2018), e trazer o retorno financeiro espero para a cadeia de suprimentos (Singh et al 2016).…”

“…Segundo Barbieri & Dias (2002), a dificuldade no gerenciamento de um CDR está no distanciamento muito grande de objetivos entre os participantes dos elos desta cadeia, já que os custos relacionados ao processo de logística reversa são altos, dificultando a definição da responsabilidade compartilhada entre eles. Projetos de logística reversa além de serem dispendiosos, acabam sendo desafiadores quando existem complexidades ao longo da cadeia de suprimentos, como, por exemplo, na indústria farmacêutica (Singh et al 2016). Rogers & Tibben-Lembke (2001) analisaram que, para as devoluções de produtos, grande parte é representada pelas devoluções de clientes, representando, aproximadamente, 6% do total de mercadorias vendidas, embora as taxas de retorno variem de forma significativa pela indústria.…”

“…Para Singh et al (2016), países em desenvolvimento fazem pouco investimento em pesquisa e desenvolvimento de produtos farmacêuticos, além da baixa preocupação com o meio ambiente, sustentabilidade e descarte de resíduos fármacos. No Brasil, a Política Nacional de Resíduos Sólidos (PNRS) representa um marco para o crescimento do debate sobre logística reversa e iniciativas de redução de poluentes no meio ambiente.…”

A new Bi– level production-routing-inventory model for a medicine supply chain under uncertainty

“…At the end of this step, the amount of each medicine for production in each time period is determined according to the available time for production and the demand uncertainty. Demand in each period of time is acquired by using the simulation and probability function (Singh et al, 2016).…”