Design of a pharmaceutical supply chain network under uncertainty considering perishability and substitutability of products

This paper proposes a mathematical model for the network design of a pharmaceutical supply chain. The two objective functions of the presented model seek to minimize the total cost and the maximum unmet demand. We depart from the existing literature by considering products' shelf-life, substitutability and quantity discount, while addressing uncertainties in costs and demand. In doing so, a novel robust possibilistic optimization approach is introduced and its performance is analyzed. Finally, a case study is provided and its proposed optimal network is discussed.