Technical evaluation of the opening of facilities in the pharmaceutical industry: optimization to supply chain in Mexico

The pharmaceutical industry is going through a difficult time in Mexico. Despite all the advances and improvements in the methods of production, storage and distribution, many pharmaceutical companies still struggle to meet market demand effectively and consistently. The risks faced by the supply chain of the pharmaceutical industry are diverse and typical of an industry dedicated to health care. So, the location to locate new facilities includes several strategic and tactical decisions that must consider aspects of production, distribution, material flow, optimal inventory, the perishability of products, safety, among other factors. The application of robust hybrid models will allow obtaining the best solutions, taking into account the network optimization, greenfield analysis and risk scenarios. This paper presents a case study for a pharmaceutical company that operates in Mexico and plans to expand its operations seeking the optimal operation of the supply chain. The inherent risks to a supply chain of pharmaceutical products, different scenarios and parameters were considered, which will allow making decisions based on technical evidence in order to improve the performance of the company. Modelling the expansion of operations and the performance of the supply chain was carried out using the specialized software Anylogistix. (C) 2019, IFAC (International Federation of Automatic Control) Hosting by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.