Evolution of automatic storage systems in Flexible Manufacturing Systems

[EN] This article aims to compare the evolution and status of automated warehouses into industrial level. From a historical remark the main research on this type of stores are related, mainly based on algorithms for solving goals, in order to improve the efficiency of all elements that constitute an automatic warehouse. Finally the latest research, trying to identify the research in progress and any improvements occur in the future, are reviewed.[ES] Este artículo trata de analizar la evolución y situación de los almacenes automáticos a nivel industrial. Desde una puntualización histórica, se relacionan las principales investigaciones en torno a este tipo de almacenes, principalmente basadas en algoritmos de resolución de los objetivos, con el fin de mejorar la eficiencia del conjunto de elementos que constituye un almacén automático. Por último, se repasan las últimas investigaciones tratando de identificar las líneas de investigación en curso y las posibles mejoras que tengan lugar en el futuro.Bautista Rodríguez, D.; Cremades Grau, R.; Juárez Varón, D. (2014). Evolución de los sistemas de almacenamiento automático en sistemas de fabricación flexible. 3C Tecnología. 3(5):257-267. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/77702S2572673

Improving healthcare supply chains and decision making in the management of pharmaceuticals

The rising cost of quality healthcare is becoming an increasing concern. A significant part of healthcare cost is the pharmaceutical supply component. Improving healthcare supply chains is critical not only because of the financial magnitude but also because it impacts so many people. Efforts such as this project are essential in understanding the current operations of healthcare pharmacy systems and in offering decision support tools to managers struggling to make the best use of organizational resources. The purpose of this study is to address the objectives of a local hospital that exhibits typical problems in pharmacy supply chain management. We analyze the pharmacy supply network structure and the different, often conflicting goals in the decisions of the various stakeholders. We develop quantitative models useful in optimizing supply chain management and inventory management practices. We provide decision support tools that improve operational, tactical, and strategic decision making in the pharmacy supply chain and inventory management of pharmaceuticals. On one hand, advanced computerized technology that manages pharmaceutical dispensation and automates the ordering process offers considerable progress to support pharmacy product distribution. On the other hand, the available information is not utilized to help the managers in making the appropriate decisions and control the supply chain management. Quantitative methods are presented that provide simplified, practical solutions to pharmacy objectives and serve as decision support tools. For operational inventory decisions we provide the min and max par levels (reorder point and order up to level) that control the automated ordering system for pharmaceuticals. These parameters are based on two near-optimal allocation policies of cycle stock and safety stock under storage space constraint. For the tactical decision we demonstrate the influence of varying inventory holding cost rates on setting the optimal reorder point and order quantity for items. We present a strategic decision support tool to analyze the tradeoffs among the refill workload, the emergency workload, and the variety of drugs offered. We reveal the relationship of these tradeoffs to the three key performance indicators at a local care unit: the expected number of daily refills, the service level, and the storage space utilization

Integrated Models and Tools for Design and Management of Global Supply Chain

In modern and global supply chain, the increasing trend toward product variety, level of service, short delivery delay and response time to consumers, highlight the importance to set and configure smooth and efficient logistic processes and operations. In order to comply such purposes the supply chain management (SCM) theory entails a wide set of models, algorithms, procedure, tools and best practices for the design, the management and control of articulated supply chain networks and logistics nodes. The purpose of this Ph.D. dissertation is going in detail on the principle aspects and concerns of supply chain network and warehousing systems, by proposing and illustrating useful methods, procedures and support-decision tools for the design and management of real instance applications, such those currently face by enterprises. In particular, after a comprehensive literature review of the principal warehousing issues and entities, the manuscript focuses on design top-down procedure for both less-than-unit-load OPS and unit-load storage systems. For both, decision-support software platforms are illustrated as useful tools to address the optimization of the warehousing performances and efficiency metrics. The development of such interfaces enables to test the effectiveness of the proposed hierarchical top-down procedure with huge real case studies, taken by industry applications. Whether the large part of the manuscript deals with micro concerns of warehousing nodes, also macro issues and aspects related to the planning, design, and management of the whole supply chain are enquired and discussed. The integration of macro criticalities, such as the design of the supply chain infrastructure and the placement of the logistic nodes, with micro concerns, such the design of warehousing nodes and the management of material handling, is addressed through the definition of integrated models and procedures, involving the overall supply chain and the whole product life cycle. A new integrated perspective should be applied in study and planning of global supply chains. Each aspect of the reality influences the others. Each product consumed by a customer tells a story, made by activities, transformations, handling, processes, traveling around the world. Each step of this story accounts costs, time, resources exploitation, labor, waste, pollution. The economical and environmental sustainability of the modern global supply chain is the challenge to face

Integrated supply and demand management in operations

The goal matching supply with demand, which is the fundament of supply chain management, has changed the role of operations management from pure cost control to value creation. The recent developments of integrating revenue management with supply chain management activities and the resulting successes have indicated the tremendous potential to improve the supply chain performance in the same way that revenue management has revolutionized the airline industry. This thesis investigates how an integration of revenue management and supply chain management influences decision making and the overall profitability. In particular, simultaneous decision making of selling price, inventory control strategy and capacity acquisition is analyzed