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A comparison of bottling alternatives in the pharmaceutical industry
Author(s) -
Teunter Ruud H.,
Flapper Simme Douwe P.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
journal of operations management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.649
H-Index - 191
eISSN - 1873-1317
pISSN - 0272-6963
DOI - 10.1016/j.jom.2004.08.008
Subject(s) - bottling line , pharmaceutical industry , business , operations management , risk analysis (engineering) , economics , medicine , pharmacology , chemistry , food science , wine
This paper presents the results of a case study in a batch production facility for biological vaccines with possibilities for rework. The problem considered is that of finding the best bottling alternative for produced batches when these have to undergo several lengthy quality tests related to the foregoing production processes. Produced batches can be bottled directly after production when the results of these test are completely unknown, after some positive (intermediate) test results are known, or after all test have been completed with positive results. When waiting in order to be bottled, a batch has to stay in the production tank. Alternatives that start the bottling process quickly after production have the advantages of a relatively low tank capacity requirement and of a relatively small flow time if all test results are positive. However, a produced batch can only be reworked as long as it has not been bottled. So fast bottling reduces the possibilities for rework and therefore reduces the production yield. We present performance measures for comparing the different alternatives and derive closed form expressions for them. We also present the results obtained for the considered case.