Long-Range planning of Logistics capacities in the process industry (new)
Researchers:
Partners:
Scientific:
BWI Center for Industrial Management
Industrial:
F. Hoffmann-La Roche, Basel
Financed by:
F. Hoffmann-La Roche
Background:
The pharmaceutical industry has to tackle several challenges: The service level in terms of the patient has the utmost priority
and therefore a high reliability is of crucial importance. At the same time, process changes require a great deal of time, due,
for instance, to regulatory requirements or Good Manufacturing Practices. In addition, uncertainties hamper a reliable forecasting. Such uncertainty is influenced by the maturity of the product: It is difficult to estimate the capacities of a drug which is in the R&D stage, while this becomes easier when dealing with a more mature product with a stable demand.
Motiavation:
Consequently, planning of logistics capacities in the pharmaceutical industry is faced with several conflicting goals and constraints: Providing reliable capacities has the highest priority and at the same time, changes in capacities might take several
years and are difficult to forecast. The use of a systematic and holistic procedure is expected to improve the current situation
considerably.
Objectives:
The aim of this research project is to develop a holistic procedure for reliable capacity planning in the process industry addressing the aforementioned challenges. Requirements for a tool which enhances the transparency throughout the network will also be developed. The work will be verified and validated within a case study for a pharmaceutical company.