Designing transportation networks -as one of the most important decision problems in supply chain management -has become the focus of research attention in recent years. This paper introduces a framework which deals with the design of a transportation network for pharmaceutical supply chains. It consists of three steps: 1) identifying the configuration of the current distribution network; 2) designing an optimal distribution network while determining the appropriate location-allocation decisions; 3) choosing the most appropriate transportation network through the application of the appropriate multi-criteria decision analysis method (MCDA). The proposed framework is illustrated in redesigning a transportation network for a pharmaceutical supply chain.
Including an active participation of stakeholders along the transportation decision-making process is increasingly recognized as a necessary condition for reaching successful and high-quality decisions. This paper presents a framework for deciding on the appropriate transportation strategy for a supply chain from a multistakeholder perspective. It consists of three steps: (1) defining the transportation-strategy decision-making context and the objectives that must be achieved; (2) analyzing the actual transportation strategy regarding its three components: transportation network; transportation mode; and transportation insource/outsource, as well as identifying the stakeholders interested in the study; and (3) conducting a group decision making regarding each transportation strategy’s component, while involving the key stakeholders and taking into account the specificities of transported products. The proposed framework is then applied to a real case of the Moroccan public pharmaceutical supply chain, which has different features that distinguish it from other supply chains including its importance, urgency, and regulation. We employed the DELPHI method to determine the key stakeholders that should be involved in the decisional process. After that, we applied the group AHP method for selecting the appropriate transport-network design option while involving the identified key stakeholders.
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