A review of medical distribution logistics in pharmaceutical supply chain

Abstract

The management of inventories and distribution networks of medical supplies are among the most important issues in the healthcare world. Indeed, medicine shortage cannot only result in financial losses but can also endanger a patient's life. Thus, many hospitals transfer managerial practices developed in the industrial sector to the healthcare environment. This paper presents a literature of operations research models developed for inventory control and distribution management across the pharmaceutical supply chain. For that purpose, this work begins by classifying the reviewed articles into three groups: 1) inventory management; 2) transportation management; 3) coordination between inventory control and distribution activities. Starting from an analysis of current literature we intend to discuss different modes of pharmaceutical supply chain coordination. Also, in doing so, we point out potential future research directions. Finally, we shed light on different barriers faced by practitioners when implementing supply chain management philosophy in the pharmaceutical supply chain.