DALMINE
Overview
Date/time interval
Syllabus
Course Objectives
In particular, students will be able to: recognise the specific features of healthcare supply chains compared with other production and logistics contexts; analyse the main processes of internal hospital logistics; understand the role of demand forecasting and uncertainty in requirements planning; apply basic models to support procurement and inventory decisions under uncertain demand; classify healthcare materials, pharmaceuticals and medical devices according to value, criticality, frequency of use, perishability and storage requirements; identify organisational and technological solutions for the management of healthcare warehouses, traceability, material handling and internal distribution.
The course also aims to develop students’ ability to use performance indicators to evaluate and improve internal logistics processes, with reference to service level, material availability, inventory accuracy, inventory turnover, stockouts, expired items, waste, internal lead times and process errors. Through the project work, students will develop the ability to apply concepts, quantitative tools and managerial criteria in an integrated way to realistic cases of internal healthcare logistics.
Course Prerequisites
Teaching Methods
Lectures will introduce the theoretical and methodological concepts related to healthcare supply chains, internal hospital logistics, demand forecasting, inventory management, healthcare warehouses, materials, pharmaceuticals and medical devices. Exercises and applied activities will support the use of the tools presented during the course to analyse realistic problems of internal healthcare logistics, with specific attention to uncertain demand, inventory decisions, material classification, KPIs and logistics process improvement.
Part of the course will be devoted to the progressive development of a group project work, focused on the analysis and improvement of a realistic case of internal healthcare logistics. The project work will allow students to apply the course contents in an integrated way, addressing demand forecasting, uncertainty, the Newsvendor model, inventory management, healthcare warehouses, technologies, material handling, performance indicators and improvement actions.
As an indicative distribution, the 24 hours of the course will include approximately 14 hours of lectures and case discussion, 6 hours of exercises and applied activities, and 4 hours devoted to project work development and review.
Assessment Methods
Assessment is based on the presentation and discussion of a group project work. The project work focuses on the analysis and improvement of a realistic case of internal healthcare logistics and must integrate the main contents addressed during the course.
Each group will prepare a presentation, supported by possible concise technical appendices, covering at least the following aspects: description of the healthcare context and logistics process analysed; analysis of demand and uncertainty; application of forecasting or decision-support tools; possible application of the Newsvendor model or equivalent criteria for defining inventory quantities; classification of the materials, pharmaceuticals or medical devices considered; analysis of the warehouse, technologies and material handling flows; definition of logistics KPIs; identification of the main critical issues and proposal of improvement actions.
The final exam consists of the oral presentation of the project work by the group, followed by a discussion with the lecturer. The discussion aims to assess the students’ ability to apply the concepts and tools presented during the course, justify the choices made, interpret the results obtained and connect the analysed case to the educational goals of the course.
The assessment is expressed on a 30-point scale and is assigned to the group. All group members receive the same grade. The grade will consider the following criteria: correctness and completeness of the logistics analysis; coherence among demand, uncertainty, inventory decisions, warehouse management and KPIs; ability to apply the methodological tools presented during the course; realism and feasibility of the proposed solutions; attention to the specific features of the healthcare sector, including material criticality, storage requirements, service level and safety; quality of the presentation and ability to justify the choices made during the discussion.
Grades will be assigned according to the following criteria: a sufficient grade corresponds to an essential but coherent project, demonstrating understanding of the main concepts of internal healthcare logistics; a good grade corresponds to a complete, technically correct and well-argued project; an excellent grade corresponds to an integrated, realistic and critical project, able to convincingly connect demand, uncertainty, inventories, warehousing, technologies, KPIs and process improvement.
The lecturer reserves the right to request an additional oral interview, also after the completion of the exam, whenever this is considered necessary to verify the actual acquisition of the knowledge and skills expected by the educational goals of the course and to ensure the correct attribution of the final grade.
Contents
- Healthcare supply chain and internal hospital logistics — 4 hours
Introduction to the healthcare supply chain; actors, processes and physical, information and economic flows; specific features of healthcare logistics compared with industrial logistics; internal hospital logistics processes; management of pharmaceuticals, medical devices, healthcare materials, biological samples and other critical flows; role of logistics in ensuring continuity, quality, safety and efficiency of healthcare services.
- Demand forecasting and uncertainty — 4 hours
Planned, urgent and stochastic healthcare demand; characteristics of demand for pharmaceuticals, medical devices, consumables and critical products; basic demand forecasting methods; forecast error; variability, seasonality, demand peaks and uncertainty; implications of uncertainty for inventory and requirement planning.
- Newsvendor model and inventory decisions under uncertainty — 4 hours
Introduction to the Newsvendor model; overage and underage costs; critical ratio; optimal order quantity; service level; stockout and overstock; healthcare applications of the model to pharmaceuticals, medical devices, personal protective equipment, vaccines, diagnostic reagents and other materials affected by uncertain demand, perishability or availability constraints.
- Healthcare warehouses, technologies and material handling — 4 hours
Organization of healthcare and pharmaceutical warehouses; receiving, storage, picking, preparation, internal distribution and traceability flows; conservation, safety, perishability and cold chain requirements; technologies for internal logistics, such as barcode, RFID, WMS, traceability systems, automated warehouses, smart carts, AGV/LGV and other material handling solutions; role of digitalization in improving process visibility and control.
- Classification and management of healthcare inventories, KPIs and improvement — 4 hours
Classification of healthcare materials; ABC/Pareto analysis; classification by criticality and usage value; ABC-VED matrix; criteria for defining inventory management policies; safety stocks, reorder point, turnover, coverage, obsolescence and expiry dates; performance indicators for internal logistics and warehouse management, such as service level, stockout rate, inventory turnover, inventory accuracy, average inventory value, internal lead time, picking errors, expired items and waste; improvement actions for logistics processes.
- Project work: setting, development and in-class review — 4 hours
The final hours of the course will be devoted to the guided setting and development of the group project work. Students will apply the concepts and tools discussed during the course to a realistic case in internal healthcare logistics, focusing on demand, uncertainty, inventory, warehousing, technologies, KPIs, and process improvement. During in-class activities, data, assumptions, analysis structure, decision criteria, and presentation of results will be discussed.
Online Resources
More information
For attending students, exam preparation is based on the teaching materials provided, the contents discussed during lectures, exercises, and the development of the project work. For non-attending students, exam preparation is based on the materials available on Moodle, the texts and readings listed in Leganto, and the project work prepared according to the lecturer's instructions.
Non-attending students are invited to contact the lecturer well in advance of the exam date in order to agree on the project case and receive the necessary instructions for developing the project work.