Systematic Framework for Design of Environmentally Sustainable Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Network

Abstract

The current push towards sustainability has pressurized pharmaceutical companies to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in their manufacturing supply chains (SCs). However, the heavily regulated nature of the pharmaceutical industry has necessitated decisions such as sourcing of raw materials including names and addresses of suppliers and siting of plants to be locked early during the registration of a new drug. This could result in SC inefficiencies during the drug commercial life leading to higher than necessary GHG emissions. This paper presents a systematic framework for design of a more sustainable pharmaceutical SC network at the commercial stage that can be performed during the early stages of drug development. The framework comprises the following steps. First, basic SC information including process chemistries, outsourcing strategies, and potential supplier and manufacturer sites is consolidated. Next, an analytic hierarchy process (AHP) is performed to identify the most suitable supplier and manufacturer sites followed by mapping the entire SC network by connecting all the sites that have been identified as high priority. Subsequently, a set of indicator metrics—namely, cost, lead time, and GHG emissions—is calculated to evaluate the economic and environmental performances of the network. The framework has been applied to an industrially motivated case study. Two network alternatives were proposed and analyzed based on their metrics together with synergies and trade-offs highlighted. The findings demonstrate the efficacy of the framework in generating different network alternatives and identifying the most sustainable one on the basis of economic and environmental benefits. As such, the framework is applicable to the early stages of drug development where information is very limited.