Applying a System Dynamics Approach for the Pharmaceutical Industry: Simulation and Optimization of the Quality Control Process

Abstract

As countries interact more and more, technology gains a decisive role in facilitating today’s increased need for interconnection. At the same time, systems, becoming more advanced as technology progresses, feed each other and can produce highly complex and unpredictable results. However, with this ever-increasing need for interconnected operations, complex problems arise that need to be effectively tackled. This need extends far beyond the scientific and mechanical fields, covering every aspect of life. Systemic Thinking Philosophy and the System Dynamics methodology now seem to be more relevant than ever and their practical implementation in real-life industrial cases has started to become a trend. Companies that decide to implement such approaches can achieve significant improvements to the effectiveness of their operations and gain a competitive advantage. This research, influenced by the Systemic Thinking Philosophy, applies a System Dynamics approach in practice by improving the quality control process of a pharmaceutical company. The process is modeled, simulated, analyzed, and improvements are performed to achieve more effective and efficient operations. The results show that all these steps led to a successful identification and optimization of the critical factors, and a significant process improvement was achieved.

Conceptualizing Supply Chain Resilience: The Role of Complex IT Infrastructures

“…The process of appreciation can generate another event or idea (3) or can lead to an action to respond (4). This action may affect the environment (6), can have an impact on the business network itself or provoke another event or idea (5), starting a new process of appreciation. A resilient supply chain also has the ability to recover to its original state or to a new stable state after responding to the disturbing events.…”

“…To deal with environmental disturbances organisations need tools that will enable them to address the increasingly complex problems that arise [5]. A systems thinking perspective could enable them to see the world as a complex system, where everything is connected to everything else [6,7].…”

“…A systems thinking perspective could enable them to see the world as a complex system, where everything is connected to everything else [6,7]. Therefore, 'implementing a systemic thinking philosophy in real-life industrial operations is essential for companies to operate effectively and efficiently [5] (p. 995), as well as to deal with any changes.…”

“…Nowadays, complex systems are being developed aiming at facilitating and affecting business operations [5]. Therefore, contemporary IT infrastructures are mixed, including different types of technologies.…”

The GHG Emissions Assessment of Online Car-Hailing Development under the Intervention of Evaluation Policies in China

“…Recently, numerous procedures to reduce vehicle emissions have been discussed, including the proper use of road congestion information for traffic forecasting [3], optimizing traffic structure, improving energy efficiency, improving infrastructure [4], implementing the systemic thinking philosophy into practice [5], enhancing bus and rail systems, transforming taxi systems [6], optimizing routing and scheduling operations [7], and introducing a charging and subsidy mechanism [8].…”