In all above mentioned decisions honesty and greater transparency will improve all the procurement processes and will lead us to the competitive advantage. Besides the decisions that we mentioned and as we illustrated earlier that the pharmaceutical procurement is a complex process and it involves many steps, ministries, manufacturers, agencies, rules and regulations, and governmental policies. We will discuss now the strategic objectives of the pharmaceutical procurement that is suitable for any procurement and distribution no matter what model is used, we shall monitor the performance of the suppliers and the procurement system.The strategic objectives of pharmaceutical procurement are : 1. Procure the most cost effective raw materials in the right quantitiesthis is the first strategic objective in any organization that has a department for procurement they should progress the most cost effective raw materials in the most appropriate way .
also we must keep in mind to estimate the accurate quantities so we don’t have unneeded stock which will be considered a waste of capital. 2. Select reliable suppliers of high-quality productsbuilding a relationship with suppliers is very important as selecting a reliable suppliers that will provide us with high quality components with reasonable prices, before selecting the supplier and register them we must implement quality assurance programs to test the raw materials and make sure they are suitable for us to use.3.
Ensure timely deliveryfinally, the last strategic objective is ensuring timely delivery as we previously stated in the distribution decision we must ensure that we deliver the right quantities to warehouses for us to deliver them to the customers and get a competitive advantage to be responsive to customers’ needs. In procurement practices we must consider the total cost of ownership and to achieve the lowest price over all total cost considering the actual price of the components (raw materials), quality price as we cant choose a supplier just for his price we cant tolerate the hidden cost for poor quality or unreliable supplier or short shelf life product as we will pay low price but will effect the total cost eventually we will pay higher price to fix this problem, inventory costs at each level of supplying and manufacturing until it’s a finished good and needs to be delivered to customer, finally considering the operating cost by managing the procurement process. After discussing the decisions and strategic objectives for the pharmaceuticals procurement we shall talk about the operational principles that’s needed for a good pharmaceutical procurement1. Managing the procurement process, different functions of the procurement process like selection of suppliers and the winning bidder of the tenders , and technical and financial analysis should be done through committees and appropriate expertise for each specific function, each individual in the procurement department is responsible as for managers they must ensure that the process is carried out efficiently and effectively in congruence with the law and regulations and the country’s policies, the procurement officer should be accountable for organizing inputs to achieve the desired result. Separating the functions will enhance to accountability and professionalism and will contribute an efficient procurement division.
