Evaluating static and adaptive safety stock policies for robust pharmaceutical supply chains

Over the past decade, there has been an epidemic of drug shortages plaguing the U.S. While efforts have been made to address the robustness of pharmaceutical supply chains, shortages persist. Two common drivers of drug shortages are (1) supply disruptions and (2) responses by decision makers throughout the supply chain as they react to these disruptions. To understand and characterize the relationship between these drivers, a systems dynamics model has been developed. Results indicate that, for various decision makers, the best inventory policies, based on Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), evolve with the type of disruption.