Operations Management and Pharmaceutical Supply Chains

This assignment examines the complexities of operations management within the pharmaceutical industry, focusing on supply chain challenges, risk mitigation, and innovative practices. It requires students to analyze research papers and apply their understanding of operations strategy, resource-based view, information quality, traceability, and agile manufacturing principles to the context of pharmaceutical production and distribution.

Running head: OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT OF KENT PHARMACEUTICALS
Operations Management of Kent Pharmaceuticals
Name of the student
Name of the University
Author note

1OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT OF KENT PHARMACEUTICALS
Executive Summary
The main purpose of this report is to discuss about the kind of product or service that is
offered by Kent Pharmaceuticals. It discusses about the production process and supply chain
network of Kent Pharmaceuticals. It discusses and analyzes how the human resources and
sales and marketing function within the organization. It also illuminates on the core
challenges that is faced by Kent Pharmaceuticals and how the electronic pharmaceutical
master control system can help in the perfect functioning of the organization.

2OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT OF KENT PHARMACEUTICALS
Table of Contents
Part 1: Type of product or service offered.............................................................................3
Production Process of the product or service.........................................................................3
Key Performance Objectives of operations............................................................................4
Brief overview of supply chain network and outsourced service..........................................5
Part 2: Working of the operations within an organization.....................................................6
Part 3: Core challenges faced by Kent Pharmaceuticals........................................................8
Proposal for improvement......................................................................................................9
Strategy for implementation.................................................................................................10
References:...........................................................................................................................12

3OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT OF KENT PHARMACEUTICALS
Part 1: Type of product or service offered
Kent Pharmaceuticals was established in the year 1986 and it has become a leading
generic company in United Kingdom. They are instrumental and offer a huge range of core
generics in the field of respiratory, analgesics and that if anti-infectives. The market is
evolving at a rapid pace and the products are manufactured keeping in mind the future. Their
main challenges revolve around improving the efficiency and provide safety to the patients 1.
The Ready to Dispense (R2D) was launched that was mainly used in walk in centres and
prisons. They are one of the leading provider of the overlabelling service within the United
Kingdom. They specialize in the arena of providing services that is temperature-controlled,
The re-packaging is audited by that of MHRA and NHS. The assembly suite can produce
around 500,000 packs within a month. The over labelling can be done automatically that
allows a quick turnaround. They have an extensive product range that is GS1 compliant. They
are efficient in the arena of stock management and excel in e-procurement 2. It has become a
strong player within the generic industry and it focuses on innovation so that it can expang
globally.
Production Process of the product or service
Adastra clinical patient management system helped in managing episodes of care in
relation to unscheduled meetings like that of out-of-hours service. This system helps in
monitoring within real time any kind of drug that is issued by the clinician for his patient. The
1 Kentpharm.co.uk (2018). home. [online] Kent Pharmaceuticals. Available at: http://www.kentpharm.co.uk/
[Accessed 11 Jan. 2018].
2 Bromiley, P. and Rau, D., 2016. Operations management and the resource based view: Another view. Journal
of Operations Management, 41, pp.95-106.

4OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT OF KENT PHARMACEUTICALS
relevant details of the consultation are transmitted through electronic mode to the ‘in-hours’
practitioner system before 9 the next morning. The products of Kent that were supposed to be
used in out- of- hour service was re-labelled that helped in indicating that they belonged to
the service of Kent Pharmaceuticals. In order to do this re-labelling it requires a new Global
Trade Item Number for each product. The numbers are allocated by making use of GS 1
Prefix. The relabeling was done by taking recourse to GS1 Matrix and had the following
marked on secondary packaging:
 Global Trade Item Number
 Serial number
 Batch Number
 Expiry date
The Melior system helps in scanning and verifying the printed code so that it provides unique
service. The information that is contained within the GS 1 Data Matrix is uploaded with the
help of simple software tool within an external data repository. The data repository makes use
of secure web service connection that is used by Adastra for verifying the packs.
Key Performance Objectives of operations
In United Kingdom, the out-of-hours patients could not always get the medication that
they needed in times of consultation. The patients had to depend on few medicines that was
being carried by the general practitioner. They had to wait till the opening of the pharmacy in
order to receive full medication. Kent Pharmaceuticals provides out-of-hour doctor services
and their performance objective is to ensure a safer medicine management solution .
The meticulous care undertaken during the re-labelling process with the help of the Melior
system that verifies the printed code helps in ensuring that the information that has been
provided can be relied upon by the customers.

5OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT OF KENT PHARMACEUTICALS
Reduce the dispensing errors by matching the product that has been prescribed and dispensed
by taking recourse to standard identification.
Brief overview of supply chain network and outsourced service
Alloga UK is instrumental in providing supply chain solutions to the health care
industry of UK and offers specialist storage and distribution services for the pharmaceutical
business. Kent Pharmaceuticals takes the extensive help of Alloga UK that is approved by
MHRA and compliant with GDP 3. They help Kent Pharmaceuticals by providing
opportunities for multi-temperature storage and customer service solutions. It also provides
IT service solutions and clinical trial to assist in the effective functioning of Kent
Pharmaceuticals.
In the year 2013, Kent Pharmaceuticals was acquired by that of DCC Vital who is a
pioneer in the distribution of pharmaceuticals within Britain and that of Ireland. Kent has
benefitted to a great extent on account of the huge resources that is provided by DCC Vital 4.
Strong links with that of other companies within the group like Fannin, Williams Medical has
greatly benefitted Kent pharmaceuticals. They have helped in providing sales channel to Kent
Pharmaceuticals and have helped them to sell in the hospital and that of retail pharmacy.
3 Chavez, R., Yu, W., Gimenez, C., Fynes, B. and Wiengarten, F., 2015. Customer integration and operational
performance: The mediating role of information quality. Decision Support Systems, 80, pp.83-95.
4 Hansen, K.R.N. and Grunow, M., 2015. Planning operations before market launch for balancing time-to-
market and risks in pharmaceutical supply chains. International Journal of Production Economics, 161, pp.129-
139.

6OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT OF KENT PHARMACEUTICALS
Part 2: Working of the operations within an organization
Human Resources along with Compliance share a goal that is common in relation to
monitoring the employee compliance. Before the compliance department came into being, the
Human Resources used to handle the complaints and issues of the employees. Frequent
communication between that of HR and the Compliance Department can help in solving the
major problems related to operations of the Kent Pharmaceuticals. The HR Manager of Kent
Pharmaceuticals is sensitive regarding compliance concern and they work with the
Compliance in order to determine the process of follow-up. Training given to the human
resources department of Kent Pharmaceuticals helps in improving the quality of work within
the organisation. Standardized job descriptions help in the smooth functioning of the
operations of Kent Pharmaceuticals. They help in developing the compliance training
program. A robust training completion monitoring program is carried out within Kent
Pharmaceuticals that helps in the fluid working of the organization 5. The disciplinary factors
are fair and equitable within the organization. HR, Compliance along with the Legal
collaborate when the disciplinary actions of the company are being developed.
Legislative changes along with economic turmoil have increased competition within
the pharmaceutical industry. The sales reps in relation to pharmaceutical industry has
highlighted that in an earlier era the distribution of free samples was considered to be an
important means of marketing. The clients were often treated with paid trips and meals in
order to increase the sales of the company. Kent Pharmaceuticals have taken recourse to cost
effective ways in order to convince the physicians about value of the items. Technology has
played a big role for the increasing sales of Kent Pharmaceuticals. The mobile sales platform
allow the facility of smooth interaction with that of the physicians has helped Kent
5 Stevenson, W.J. and Sum, C.C., 2015. Operations management. New York: McGraw-Hill Education.

7OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT OF KENT PHARMACEUTICALS
Pharmaceuticals in the arena of sales and marketing 6. Interactive approach by taking
recourse to social media forms of e-detailing has helped in the marketing of Kent
Pharmaceuticals.
The marketing strategy of Kent Pharmaceuticals focuses on a two-dimensional
approach. The key message should be repeated and the message should be able to reach a
wider audience. Technologies like email and online searches help in reaching a large number
of people. Multimedia presentation software also helps the Kent Pharmaceuticals to reach a
large audience on frequent basis 7. It helps in building credibility in the relationships that
proves to be a crucial factor for their success in the field of marketing. Kent Pharmaceuticals
makes use of data mining in order to understand the thought leadership of physicians.
Information is very valuable and it helps the marketers to gather and store information
about the prospective buyers. Adaptive learning analytics capability has been embedded in
the marketer-sponsored software of Kent Pharmaceuticals that helps the company to learn
from the audience. It can help in moulding the message and media so that it can reach a
particular audience. Analytics tools within the proprietary mobile app of Kent
Pharmaceuticals can help the marketers in understanding what the consumers prefer and it
can test different kinds of on-screen marketing scenario that greatly benefits the business of
Kent Pharmaceuticals 8.
6 Wagner, S.M., Ullrich, K.K. and Transchel, S., 2014. The game plan for aligning the organization. Business
Horizons, 57(2), pp.189-201.
7 Malhotra, M.K., Singhal, C., Shang, G. and Ployhart, R.E., 2014. A critical evaluation of alternative methods
and paradigms for conducting mediation analysis in operations management research. Journal of Operations
Management, 32(4), pp.127-137.
8 Stevenson, W.J. and Sum, C.C., 2015. Operations management. New York: McGraw-Hill Education.

8OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT OF KENT PHARMACEUTICALS
Part 3: Core challenges faced by Kent Pharmaceuticals
Financial pressures will greatly dominate the pharmaceutical industry in United
Kingdom. The major challenge in the developing countries is in relation to making the drugs
available for the poor people. Kent Pharmaceuticals will face problem as the government is
cash-strapped and it will become hard for the health care providers to convince the market
about their products. The economic turmoil prevailing in United Kingdom will put a great
amount of financial pressure on the payer community 9. The quality of the services and
medicines that is delivered by a pharmaceutical company cannot be sacrificed as this involves
the life of a balance. A delicate balance has thus to be maintained between that of the price of
the medicines and the quality of it 10. The biotechnology industry is facing a stiff challenge on
account of innovation and competition. A large number of new entrants has entered the
pharmaceutical industry in United Kingdom and this poses challenge for Kent
Pharmaceuticals. This has resulted in a competitive business environment that has caused
pressure on Kent Pharmaceuticals. Need for satisfying people of different mindsets along
with cultural demands create hindrance for Kent Pharmaceuticals. It gives rise to internal
organizational pressure that obstructs the adoption of the new technologies. It creates barriers
in the arena of development of new products.
Consumers want more personalized and high-tech care that will be convenient for
them. They want direct contact with the providers and the health care companies have to
9 Sana, S.S. and Panda, S., 2015. Optimal sales team's initiatives and pricing of pharmaceutical
products. International Journal of Systems Science: Operations & Logistics, 2(3), pp.168-176.
10 Smith, L., Maull, R. and CL Ng, I., 2014. Servitization and operations management: a service dominant-logic
approach. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 34(2), pp.242-269.

9OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT OF KENT PHARMACEUTICALS
increase their speed against that of the strict regulatory requirement 11. The regulations have
an impact on the technological change and cost is another factor that is a challenge for Kent
Pharmaceuticals. The development of drugs needs a huge amount of time along with money.
Kent pharmaceuticals have to deliver with the help of their limited R and D budget.
Proposal for improvement
The pharmaceutical companies have started to use collaborative platforms and a fully
integrated pharmaceutical network can help Kent Pharmaceutical in battling the challenges. It
can then effectively take the help of a lot of resources in order to succeed. Teaming up with
the other organisations can help in creating virtual R and D programs that can help in
reducing the costs 12. It can help in managing risks more effectively and can reduce the costs.
Common usage of IT systems along with technologies can help in the effective management
of the supply chain problems. Collaboration software can help in increasing transparency
within the organization and it helps in monitoring each level of the implementation of a
project. The electronic pharmaceutical master control system can help in revising the
documents within time and it can even be made use of by users across that of multiple
departments 13. It helps in the approval of the document task and reduce the time in relation to
11 Hitt, M.A., Carnes, C.M. and Xu, K., 2016. A current view of resource based theory in operations
management: A response to Bromiley and Rau. Journal of Operations Management, 41(10), pp.107-109.
12 Lun, Y.V., Shang, K.C., Lai, K.H. and Cheng, T.C.E., 2016. Examining the influence of organizational
capability in innovative business operations and the mediation of profitability on customer satisfaction: An
application in intermodal transport operators in Taiwan. International Journal of Production Economics, 171,
pp.179-188.
13 DiMase, D., Collier, Z.A., Carlson, J., Gray, R.B. and Linkov, I., 2016. Traceability and risk analysis
strategies for addressing counterfeit electronics in supply chains for complex systems. Risk Analysis, 36(10),
pp.1834-1843.

10OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT OF KENT PHARMACEUTICALS
project meeting. It provides a centralized repository that is necessary for important
documentation and this system can help in approving documents. Master control can help in
the connection of the entire enterprise and helps in the efficient management of the project
team.
Strategy for implementation
Total Quality Management refers to an approach that can help in improving the
quality and performance of the employees in an organization. It can help in the process of
meeting or exceeding the customer expectation. It helps in looking at the measures that are
implemented by the company for quality control and quality assurance of the services of an
organization. Kent Pharmaceuticals will make use of the Total Management System in order
to improve the performance of the employees and augment the growth of the organisation.
The pharmaceutical master control document software system can help in accelerating the
processes that can help to bring a new product within the market 14. Most of the companies in
the modern age store their information within their electronic systems and the master control
system can help in submitting change orders for the purpose of review. It also assists in the
process of providing all the associated documents that can instigate the process of change.
Internal procedures that are called standard operating procedure can help in controlling chaos
within an organization 15. The master control system can help in streamlining the entire
process of change control so that it can help in risk assessment. The reporting capabilities of
14 Mehralian, G., Zarenezhad, F. and Rajabzadeh Ghatari, A., 2015. Developing a model for an agile supply
chain in pharmaceutical industry. International Journal of Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Marketing, 9(1),
pp.74-91.
15 Slack, N., 2015. Operations strategy. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

11OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT OF KENT PHARMACEUTICALS
master control can help in providing real-time status in relation to all kinds of change control
tasks. It ensures in the process of documentation integrity that can help the employees to have
at their disposal the latest updated document.

12OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT OF KENT PHARMACEUTICALS
References:
Bromiley, P. and Rau, D., 2016. Operations management and the resource based view:
Another view. Journal of Operations Management, 41, pp.95-106.
Chavez, R., Yu, W., Gimenez, C., Fynes, B. and Wiengarten, F., 2015. Customer integration
and operational performance: The mediating role of information quality. Decision Support
Systems, 80, pp.83-95.
DiMase, D., Collier, Z.A., Carlson, J., Gray, R.B. and Linkov, I., 2016. Traceability and risk
analysis strategies for addressing counterfeit electronics in supply chains for complex
systems. Risk Analysis, 36(10), pp.1834-1843.
Hansen, K.R.N. and Grunow, M., 2015. Planning operations before market launch for
balancing time-to-market and risks in pharmaceutical supply chains. International Journal of
Production Economics, 161, pp.129-139.
Hitt, M.A., Carnes, C.M. and Xu, K., 2016. A current view of resource based theory in
operations management: A response to Bromiley and Rau. Journal of Operations
Management, 41(10), pp.107-109.
Kentpharm.co.uk (2018). home. [online] Kent Pharmaceuticals. Available at:
http://www.kentpharm.co.uk/ [Accessed 11 Jan. 2018].
Lun, Y.V., Shang, K.C., Lai, K.H. and Cheng, T.C.E., 2016. Examining the influence of
organizational capability in innovative business operations and the mediation of profitability
on customer satisfaction: An application in intermodal transport operators in
Taiwan. International Journal of Production Economics, 171, pp.179-188.

13OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT OF KENT PHARMACEUTICALS
Malhotra, M.K., Singhal, C., Shang, G. and Ployhart, R.E., 2014. A critical evaluation of
alternative methods and paradigms for conducting mediation analysis in operations
management research. Journal of Operations Management, 32(4), pp.127-137.
Mehralian, G., Zarenezhad, F. and Rajabzadeh Ghatari, A., 2015. Developing a model for an
agile supply chain in pharmaceutical industry. International Journal of Pharmaceutical and
Healthcare Marketing, 9(1), pp.74-91.
Sana, S.S. and Panda, S., 2015. Optimal sales team's initiatives and pricing of pharmaceutical
products. International Journal of Systems Science: Operations & Logistics, 2(3), pp.168-
176.
Slack, N., 2015. Operations strategy. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Smith, L., Maull, R. and CL Ng, I., 2014. Servitization and operations management: a service
dominant-logic approach. International Journal of Operations & Production
Management, 34(2), pp.242-269.
Stevenson, W.J. and Sum, C.C., 2015. Operations management. New York: McGraw-Hill
Education.
Wagner, S.M., Ullrich, K.K. and Transchel, S., 2014. The game plan for aligning the
organization. Business Horizons, 57(2), pp.189-201.