Identifying and Analyzing the Application of the Internet of Things in Supply Pharmaceutical Chain Agility in post COVID-19

The internet of Things has become more popular as a new technology since the advent of wireless technology, and attracted attention from supply chain management promoters. This study aimed to identify and analyze IoT applications in the pharmaceutical supply chain agility in the post-COVID-19 era

We first review previous studies in applications of IoT in pharmaceutical supply chain agility and identified the findings through qualitative content analysis. Then, the identified factors were given to 20 management and information technology experts to confirm and validate.

The results showed that IoT applications on the pharmaceutical supply chain agility in 9 components and 50 indicators. First of all, the most important factor is faster communication with other stakeholders (suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, and customers) using the IoT in the supply chain. Secondly, the use of IoT for drug production; manufacturers invest in technologies that lead to lower operating costs in the long term, because network devices and sensors do not make mistakes, do not need rest and training, and do not take vacations. Therefore, they increase the agility of the production process and are a reliable and cost-effective alternative for productivity in production.

The wide applications of the proposed model indicate the need to consider the use of the IoT in the pharmaceutical industry supply chain in order to improve overall supply chain performance and focus on supply chain agility.