Stef Lemmens

Performance measurement of a Rotavirus vaccine supply chain design by the integration of production capacity into the guaranteed service approach

Previous research has integrated multi-echelon inventory management into the design of a responsive supply chain by the use of the guaranteed service approach. We build further upon this work by integrating the production capacity and product flow to minimize the supply chains inventories. The production capacity is modeled with a queuing network to handle the variability of the batch production processes as well as the demand variability. We test and validate our model with adapted instances from literature and apply it to the rotavirus vaccine supply chain. This vaccine supply chain is seen as complex on the manufacturing side as well as on the distribution side. For our industrial application we show how this work is embedded in a scenario approach and the contribution of our model to evaluate a single scenario according to multiple performance indicators. For this paper, our scenarios consist of different lead time reduction programmes and varying demand levels. We demonstrate how to extract the best performing scenario.

The vaccine supply chain multathlon: the reconciliation of technology, economy and access to medicines

Many rigorous models have been developed to support the design of humanitarian supply chains. Supply chains supportive of Access to Medicines (ATM), like vaccine supply chains impose considerable additional challenges on this design process. We embed these models in a broader stakeholder based framework. This will substantially enhance the societal and human impact of the ATM supply chain service delivery. This broader base of stakeholders will deliver a balanced set of Key Performance Indicators, against which the new design options or scenarios will be evaluated. These scenarios will be the outcome of an iterative design and modelling process moderated by a group of key stakeholders. Subsequently, a multi-criteria ranking method will reveal a shortlist of championing scenarios. Finally, a group decision process will decide on the final supply chain design choice. Moreover, the acceptance and buy-in of the (re)designed supply chain will be much more evident for all stakeholders involved. The main purpose of this paper is to present a general framework for ATM supply chain design which constitutes a stakeholder’s framework encapsulating a rigorous modelling approach. We build upon our own experience within a vaccine supply chain.