Browsing by Author "Mapowo, Newton"

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    Development of a pharmaceutical product categorization framework taxonomy for the South African public healthcare pharmaceutical supply chain—VAN enabled
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2019-12) Mapowo, Newton; Bam, Louzanne; De Kock, Imke; Van Eeden, Joubert; Llewellyn, Thomas Edward; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Engineering. Dept. of Industrial Engineering.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Many of the challenges in supply chains have been traced to emanate from a misalignment between the type of product, together with its attributes, and the strategy according to which the supply chain of the product is managed. Several frameworks, incorporating a diverse set of product attributes, have been recommended to enable this alignment between product attributes and supply chain strategies in various sectors. The priorities that are typically pursued in public healthcare pharmaceutical supply chains, differ from those that are typically pursued in the commercial sector in a number of ways. Despite this, a structured search of literature did not uncover any framework that incorporates the distinct critical attributes to be used in describing product categorization in public healthcare pharmaceutical supply chains specifically. A review of literature on product categorization as it has been applied in various industries, indicates that it is reasonable to conclude that tailoring supply chain management practices and policies to the attributes of the products being supplied in the public healthcare pharmaceutical supply chain sector is likely to be beneficial. The South African National Department of Health is in the process of rolling out the Visibility and Analytics Network reference framework, with the aim of ensuring the sustained availability of and access to medicine. At present, the Visibility and Analytics Network strategy does not incorporate the product categorization concept. In this study, a product categorization framework is developed specifically for use in the contemporary South African public healthcare pharmaceutical supply chain. The framework is intended to provide guidance to supply chain managers on aligning pharmaceutical products with appropriate supply chain strategies, thereby formulating different supply pipelines in line with the relevant attributes of the products. It is envisioned that the framework will be used by the provincial supply chain managers in the Visibility and Analytics Network strategy informed push model as they: analyze and optimize complex links in the public healthcare pharmaceutical supply chain; and make inventory planning and management recommendations to primary healthcare facilities. The product categorization framework that is developed in this research is expected to aid in enhancing sustainable availability and access to medicines in the South African public healthcare supply chain.
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    Incorporating product categorization to improve the performance of SA’s public healthcare supply chain : a research agenda
    (South African Institute for Industrial Engineering, 2018) Mapowo, Newton; Bam, Louzanne; De Kock, Imke H.; Van Eeeden, Joubert
    In an influential publication from the late 1990’s, Marshall Fisher argued that many of the challenges in supply chains could be traced back to a lack of alignment between the type of product and the type of supply chain. Subsequently, the idea of tailoring supply chain management practices and policies to the characteristics of the products being supplied has received significant research attention, and various researchers have worked on modifying the premise as well as on its application to diverse sectors, with promising findings. The South African National Department of Health is in the process of rolling out the Visibility and Analytics Network (VAN) reference framework, with the aim of ensuring sustained availability of and access to commodities. At present, the VAN strategy does not incorporate a product categorization element. This paper proposes a research agenda for determining how product categorization could be incorporated into the VAN strategy to enable supply chain practices and policies to be tailored to the characteristics of products.