Risk Mitigation and Preventing Medicines Shortages

Abstract

The main attributes of Supply Chain (SC) operations within AbbVie, a global pharmaceutical company, are presented, as well as the key factors for risk mitigation within the deliverance of AbbVie products and services are introduced. We focus both the management of external risks and the management of product supply risks, properly pondering the key risks and additional mitigation strategies in both cases. At AbbVie, the Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP) and demand forecasting are jointly addressed, being the S&OP involvement, the key elements within S&OP, and the global S&OP process contributing all together for the successful prevention of medicines shortages. In this way, Key Performance Indicators (KPI) were defined to adequately measure AbbVie performance, and SC operations are evaluated through the customer satisfaction, the operational excellence, and the assurance of supply during a three-years period.