Inventory management in a pharmaceutical company : minimizing discard practices

Thesis (M. Eng.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2010.

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Wang, Xiaojun, M. Eng. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Other Authors: Stanley B. Gershwin.
Format: Thesis
Language:eng
Published: Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2011
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/62513
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author Wang, Xiaojun, M. Eng. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
author2 Stanley B. Gershwin.
author_facet Stanley B. Gershwin.
Wang, Xiaojun, M. Eng. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
author_sort Wang, Xiaojun, M. Eng. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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description Thesis (M. Eng.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2010.
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spelling mit-1721.1/625132019-04-11T00:22:33Z Inventory management in a pharmaceutical company : minimizing discard practices Wang, Xiaojun, M. Eng. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Stanley B. Gershwin. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering. Mechanical Engineering. Thesis (M. Eng.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2010. Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. Includes bibliographical references (p. 63). Pharmaceutical company SPM has over 400 cases of inventory discards over the past five years which constitute a significant operating cost. Due to the complexity and randomness of each case, the root causes that result in inventory discards are not identified by the management, thereby hindering SPM from coming up with effective discard minimization practices. This thesis investigates the discard reasons and analyzes the severity of each cause. Raw material expiration is identified as one of the primary discard causes. High raw material inventory level is resulted from the current inadequate inventory management practices in SPM. A raw material inventory management procedure with appropriate inventory grouping strategies incorporating the shelf life is developed in order to help SPM reduce its waste in material expiration. Based on the study of demand information and forecast accuracy, different inventory models are applied to classified inventory groups to determine the amount of inventory to be ordered and kept as safety stock. The study finds that the new procedure reduces the average inventory costs of the items studied by 43%. by Xiaojun Wang. M.Eng. 2011-04-25T16:11:33Z 2011-04-25T16:11:33Z 2010 2010 Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/62513 712602499 eng M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission. http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582 65 p. application/pdf Massachusetts Institute of Technology
spellingShingle Mechanical Engineering.
Wang, Xiaojun, M. Eng. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Inventory management in a pharmaceutical company : minimizing discard practices
title Inventory management in a pharmaceutical company : minimizing discard practices
title_full Inventory management in a pharmaceutical company : minimizing discard practices
title_fullStr Inventory management in a pharmaceutical company : minimizing discard practices
title_full_unstemmed Inventory management in a pharmaceutical company : minimizing discard practices
title_short Inventory management in a pharmaceutical company : minimizing discard practices
title_sort inventory management in a pharmaceutical company minimizing discard practices
topic Mechanical Engineering.
url http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/62513
work_keys_str_mv AT wangxiaojunmengmassachusettsinstituteoftechnology inventorymanagementinapharmaceuticalcompanyminimizingdiscardpractices