Simulation in healthcare supply chains with perishable products: a scoping review

Abstract

Healthcare Supply Chains (HSCs), such as those related to pharmaceutical products, vaccines and blood, include processes for procurement, production, distribution, and management of perishable products. Such products introduce additional complexity as they have a use-by date, impacting ordering, inventory rotation, distribution, and other processes. HSCs with perishable products require careful planning as it can be a challenge to coordinate supply chain processes at different tiers, each with its specific constraints. Modelling and Simulation (M&S) techniques enable the development of computer models of real-world systems and explore alternative scenarios. Several studies have employed M&S techniques to model HSCs with perishable products. This scoping review has identified a total of 73 papers from the literature. It uses a framework-based approach to identify key characteristics of the models and the attributes related to their application. Analysed variables include purpose for using simulation, the techniques employed, and verification and validation methods. Findings from our review highlight the importance of M&S studies involving stakeholders, accounting for disruption situations, incorporating uncertainty sources, and integrating different SC scopes into simulation models. Future research directions are presented based on a simulation study lifecycle. This review is an important reference for the current state-of-the-art in M&S studies focusing on perishable HSCs.