Loubna Benabbou

A Kanban based system for multi-echelon inventory management: The case of pharmaceutical supply chain

Thanks to the advances in the information and communication technology, firms can share all the inventory data in order to implement suitable inventory management policies. This technological change allows the management of multi-echelon supply chains. Coordination is an important aspect of the multi-echelon supply chain management especially when dealing with critical items like pharmaceutical products. A suitable system should be developed and used to maintain the necessary quantity of pharmaceutical products at the different levels of pharmaceutical supply chains. Kanban systems may be used for managing multi-echelon inventory by ordering the quantity needed in each echelon without incurring a high level of stock. It still requires, however, a good level of information sharing between the different stages. Over many years, this technique has known many variations to glue with different companies environment and requirements. In this paper we consider the use and tailor a Kanban system for information sharing and coordination in order to manage the multi-echelon inventory in a pharmaceutical supply chain.

Multi-criteria distribution network redesign - case of the public sector pharmaceutical supply chain in Morocco

ABSTRACT With the expansion of the medical assistance scheme in 2012, the consumption of pharmaceutical products in the Moroccan public sector increased exponentially. Several assessments of the current supply chain of pharmaceutical products indicated the saturation of the logistical system and its inadequacy to the new challenges faced. The purpose of this paper is to elaborate a general approach to distribution network redesign. Based on prioritized criteria, such as supply chain responsiveness and costs, it allows comparing different distribution network designs and selecting the most appropriate one using AHP multi-criteria decision making method. This general approach is applied to the case study of the Moroccan pharmaceutical supply chain in the public sector.

A MCDA approach to select a Kanban system for multi-echelon inventory management in a pharmaceutical supply chain

Kanban system selection is a multi-criteria decision problem which includes qualitative and quantitative factors. The criticality of the selection is more complex in the pharmaceutical and healthcare supply chains and needs more analysis to ensure the availability of suitable pharmaceuticals with no error. Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) methodology will be discussed to tackle different criteria involved in the selection of Kanban system variation in the current study. AHP is an efficient tool that facilitates the decision-making in complex, unstructured and multi-criteria problems. This paper aims to identify and discuss some of the most important criteria for the selection of an efficient Kanban system for inventory management in a pharmaceutical supply chain using AHP-Algorithm.

A framework for identification and classification of outsourcing related organizational risks in a pharmaceutical supply chain

Outsourcing supply chain activities is not simple. Yet, it allows organizations to strategically use outside vendors to perform activities that traditionally have been internal functions such as information systems, value buying and logistics in order to achieve efficiently, a higher level of product availability. The outsourcing strategy is considered, however, as a major change that may impact heavily the business competitiveness and future. In this context, organizations that are considering strategic outsourcing of supply chain activities must manage and control carefully the related risk factors in order to meet the sourcing objectives. This paper introduces a framework inspired from the Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) approach and aims to identify and classify outsourcing related organizational risks. This framework was operationalized for the case of the pharmaceutical supply chain in the public sector in Morocco.

A two stage DEA approach for evaluating the performance of public pharmaceutical products supply chains

Evaluating the performance of supply chains is one of the most important and complex tasks that managers encounter. This paper presents a performance evaluation framework to evaluate and compare the performance of different pharmaceutical products supply chains according to several features. The framework is based on Data Envelopment Analysis as a dynamic tool for measuring the relative efficiency of supply chains with multiple inputs and outputs. The objectives of this study are (a) to construct a set of aggregated metrics that best characterize the performance of pharmaceutical products supply chains, (b) to estimate the relative efficiency and compare different public pharmaceutical products supply chains, and finally (c) to estimate the magnitudes of input adjustments that would have been required to make each supply chain efficient.

Multi-criteria distribution network selection

Balancing high levels of performance and reduced costs has become a crucial goal for organizations. Managers nowadays thrive to achieve a competitive advantage through the optimization of the supply chain distribution network (DN). This work proposes a decision making approach for choosing the right DN. Based on prioritized criteria such as SC responsiveness and costs, it allows comparing different distribution networks and selecting the most appropriate one; in two cases of prioritization of the decision maker. The ranking of these alternatives is done through the application of the multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) method AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process).

DMADV approach to evaluate the Adaptive Kanban performance for inventory management process: the case of Moroccan public pharmaceutical supply chain

ABSTRACT The Moroccan public Pharmaceutical Supply Chain had begun important redesign and improvement of its different logistical components. Its utmost target is to ensure without hindrance right pharmaceuticals, to the right population at the right place and cost. The endeavour of this paper is to propose the Adaptive Kanban System as a new system to manage pharmaceuticals inventory of the Moroccan public Pharmaceutical Supply Chain. Define-Measure-Analyse-Design-Verify methodology is used, to control its behaviour and to address the problem of predicting and evaluating the performance of Adaptive Kanban System, considering the Moroccan Pharmaceutical Supply chain requirements. The relevant findings of this work consist in a better structure of inventory and a decrease of pharmaceutical inventory costs. It also identifies several opportunities for further investigation into the merits of Adaptive Kanban application in the pharmaceutical sector.

An integrated performance measurement framework for enhancing public health care supply chains

ABSTRACT Performance improvement is a key step in quality management standards and awards such as ISO 9001, MBQA and EFQM. It is also indispensable in process improvement programs relying on PDCA or DMAIC. From a Supply Chain perspective, performance management is necessary to enhance its quality by improving both effectiveness and efficiency. Generally, the scope of performance management involves activities, such as defining, planning, measuring, monitoring and improving a system’s performance. This paper introduces a framework based on the Balanced scorecard (BSC) and the (SCOR) model to engineer an integrated performance measurement system for managing public healthcare supply chains. This generic performance measurement system which is meant to monitor the supply chain’s performance against its strategic objectives, is then customized to include the most relevant indicators according to the Decision-Maker’s preferences. As an illustration, the suggested framework is applied to develop a performance measurement system for the pharmaceutical products supply chain for the Moroccan public sector.

A model for classification of outsourcing related organizational risks in a pharmaceutical supply chain

Several stakeholders are increasingly interested in operational risks and their impact on key business projects such as outsourcing projects. To guide stakeholders and project managers to take decisions related to the outsourcing of one or multiple activities, we propose a decision support system for classifying organizational risks, as example of operational risks, into different risk categories. The classification system is based on a set of performance metrics that measure both the likelihood and impact criterias. Electre-Tri a formal multi-criteria decision analysis method, was used as the foundation for this task. This method allowed us to cluster various organizational risks in different risk categories based on our current knowledge of those risks, and based on the best professional judgments. A numerical application based on a real case is presented.

An experimental approach for dimensioning healthcare supply chains

Nowadays, many deterministic phenomenon are investigated through computer experiments. Computer experiments are conducted to emulate complex deterministic systems for saving time and resources. In a deterministic simulation model the output responses values are generally determined by complex mathematical models computationally time consuming and difficult to run. This paper presents an experimental approach based on computer experiments for dimensioning healthcare supply chains by using Latin hypercube sampling and response surface methodology. For practical purposes, the proposed approach will convert a mathematical problem into a simpler problem by means of prediction in order to provide an approximate dimensioning for the healthcare supply chains operations.