What is Perishable Products

Pharmaceutical industry is considered as a global industry because of its effects on the human life. Many researchers used optimization tools to manage the pharmaceutical supply chain (PSC) efficiently. A supply chain may be defined as an integrated process where several business entities work together to produce goods and/or services and deliver them to the end customer. The issue of PSC which includes strategic, tactical and operational decisions, is still a quite hot issue. The intended mission of this chapter is to introduce and discuss the recent developments of procurement, production and distribution management of pharmaceutical products in order to pave the way for the readers who are interested in this area of research. Notably, the focus of the chapter is on quantitative OR-based models which enable the decision makers to appropriately coordinate and manage the whole pharmaceutical industry.