Lisa M. Thomas

A decomposition-based approach for the selection of standardized modular containers

The standardisation of packaging and containers for product handling has potential benefits from transportation, material handling and environmental perspectives. Likewise, standardised modular containers play an important role in the Physical Internet (PI). To support implementation of standard modular containers, we introduce a mathematical model to select a requisite number of modular containers to pack a set of products to maximise space utilisation. A decomposition-based solution methodology is developed and presented. Computational results from industry-based problem instances indicate that using standardised modular containers results in increased space utilisation at the unit load level. This finding substantiates the use of modular containers in moving toward the PI.

Analytical models for warehouse configuration

The performance of a warehouse is impacted by how it is configured, yet there is no optimization model in the literature to answer the question of how to best configure the warehouse in terms of warehouse shape and the configuration of the dock doors. Moreover, the building blocks for such a model (put-away, replenishment, and order picking models that can be combined in an optimization model) are either not available (in the case of replenishment) or built on a set of inconsistent assumptions (in the case of put-away and order picking). Therefore, this article lays the foundation for more sophisticated warehouse configuration optimization models by developing the first analytical model for replenishment operation performance and extending put-away and order picking performance models. These new models are used to address a question motivated by industry: the optimal configuration of a case-picking warehouse in terms of the shape of the facility and whether the facility is configured with dock doors on one or both sides. An example is presented to demonstrate the use of the proposed models in answering such a question, quantifying the benefit of using an integrated approach to warehouse configuration.

Survey of Hospital Pharmacy Directors: Assessment of the Current State of Unit-Dose Acquisition

Background: Many hospitals are in the planning stage of barcode point-of-care (BPOC) implementation. One of the challenges that hospital pharmacies face in BPOC implementation is unit-dose acquisition. Objective: This article presents the results of a survey of hospital pharmacy directors to assess the current state of unit-dose acquisition to support bedside barcode-enabled dispensing practices. Methods: An online survey was administered over 2 months and was available from September to November 2008. The University of Arkansas Institutional Review Board approved the survey before it was disseminated. The survey was developed in collaboration with 2 hospital pharmacy directors. Ninety-one valid survey responses were representative in terms of the distribution of hospital size compared with previous surveys of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. Though there were 91 total respondents, not all provided responses to all of the survey questions. Thus, some of the figures, tables, and text refer to fewer than 91 respondents. Results: The results of interest to pharmacy technicians indicated that most hospitals today are able to purchase at least 40% of their medications in unit-dose packaging directly from the manufacturer. For medications that cannot be acquired in unit-dose packaging, 85% of the hospitals surveyed perform repackaging operations in-house. However, 87% of the hospitals that use a high-speed oral solid repackager only use this equipment, at most, 4 hours per day. Our survey results showed that only 8% of the hospitals surveyed used a third-party repackager to acquire unit-dose medications, compared with 85% of hospitals that are either currently using or in the planning phase of using BPOC. Conclusions: The survey found that most hospital pharmacy directors choose to repackage medications in-house, despite the high cost of repackaging equipment and a relatively low utilization of that equipment. Hospitals indicated that cost and turnaround time were the 2 issues of greatest concern when considering outsourcing unit-dose medication repackaging to a third-party repackager.

Third-party repackaging in hospital pharmacy unit dose acquisition.

Medication errors can occur during every step of the medication-use process, but they occur most frequently during the prescribing and administration stages.[1][1] In fact, “when all types of errors are taken into account, a hospital patient can expect on average to be subjected to more than one

Selecting And Allocating Repackaging Technology For Unit-Dose Medications In Hospital Pharmacies

To increase patient safety and support bedside-point-of-care medication administration, millions of unit-dose medications are dispensed in hospitals and health systems daily. Because not all medications are available in unit-dose form directly from the manufacturer, hospitals must repackage medications in unit-dose form themselves. We develop a mathematical model that simultaneously determines which level of technology is warranted and how each medication that is not delivered to the pharmacy in unit-dose form should be repackaged subject to multiple constraints. This model has been integrated into a free Excel-based tool available to pharmacy directors. We test our model with data based on small, medium, and large hospitals and conduct sensitivity analyses to gain further insight. We illustrate how the results from our model can aid in incorporating qualitative aspects into technology selection. Our results show that a semi-automated repackaging system is the most economical technology alternative for most hospital pharmacy in-house repackaging operations. This result, however, is sensitive to the number of unit-dose medications to repackage and the available labor.