US-Austria Doctoral Dissertation Enhancement Project: Improving the Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Through Order-Fulfillment Technology

University Of Arkansas, Fayetteville AR

Investigators

Abstract

The pharmaceutical supply chain is critical to the quality of our healthcare system and its performance depends on the correct application of order-fulfillment technology. Industrial Engineering Ph.D. candidate Ms. Jennifer A. Pazour, in conjunction with her advisor Dr. Russell D. Meller, is conducting research that develops analytical models to analyze alternative piece-level order-fulfillment technologies that are prevalent in pharmaceutical distribution. This doctoral dissertation enhancement project is focused on developing improved planning tools for the selection of order-fulfillment technology. The research will be conducted in collaboration with the Technical University of Graz's Institute of Logistics Engineering and SSI Schaefer, a leading order-fulfillment technology provider. Both organizations are located in Graz, Austria. An optimization modeling approach will be developed and incorporated into a decision support tool that integrates Ms. Pazour's current dissertation research with her collaborators' mechanical understanding of the technologies. Not only will the research improve on the selection of current order-fulfillment technology, it also has the potential to identify gaps in the market where new order-fulfillment technology could be developed.