Development of supply chain value stream map for government-supported drug distribution system
International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management
ISSN: 0265-671X
Article publication date: 25 June 2021
Issue publication date: 30 March 2022
Abstract
Purpose
The requirement of high-quality government-supported healthcare services has necessitated the significance of recognizing new management practices to enhance patient satisfaction. Hence, the purpose of this study is to address the patient's enhanced custom needs through the implementation of supply chain value stream mapping (SCVSM) in government-supported drug distribution system (DDS) for enhanced patient's satisfaction.
Design/methodology/approach
This study elucidates the role of one popular emerging management technique (i.e. SCVSM) in the healthcare sector by an investigative case study. The DDS in Rajasthan (India) was selected for this study. The data for this analysis were gathered in three ways (i.e. direct observation, documentary analysis and semi-structured interviews).
Findings
The outcome of this current study reveals that it is possible to apply the tool (SCVSM) to investigate the wastes in DDS to deliver the medicines at right time, right quantity and right quality. The application of SCVSM concluded that the various Kaizens (areas needed to improve) in lead time; transportation and routing should be adopted. The study further implemented kaizen on the current SCVSM and developed future SCVSM.
Research limitations/implications
Although various stages and functions exist in the healthcare supply chain, the current study is focused on the distribution system of drugs. The proposed approach provides a platform for both researchers and academicians to understand the existing DDS and to implement the SCVSM approach in the healthcare environment. The results show that the proposed SCVSM model is able to identify some operational bottlenecks and wastes which interfere in DDS.
Originality/value
It was observed that limited literature related to lean implementation on DDS and implementation of SCVSM on the healthcare environment in general and government-supported or public in specific are available. The current study on the application of SCVSM in DDS is unique in nature and will definitely add value to the existing literature of the application of value stream mapping (VSM) on the healthcare supply chain management field.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This work is supported by the Department of Science and Technology - Rajasthan funded through the project no. P.7 (3) Vpro/R&D/2016/5957 entitled “Design of HSC for Enhancing Availability and Reducing Wastage of Generic Medicines for Rural Areas in Rajasthan.”
Citation
Dixit, A., Routroy, S. and Dubey, S.K. (2022), "Development of supply chain value stream map for government-supported drug distribution system", International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, Vol. 39 No. 5, pp. 1151-1169. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJQRM-12-2020-0399
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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