STRENGTHENING PHARMACEUTICAL MANUFACTURING LOCALIZATION IN SAUDI ARABIA THROUGH PRODUCTION PLANNING AND CAPACITY OPTIMIZATION
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18623/rvd.v23.8098Keywords:
Saudi Vision 2030, Pharmaceutical Localization, Production Planning, Capacity Optimization, Pharmaceutical Manufacturing, Supply-Chain Resilience, Technology Transfer, Pharma 4.0, Operational Excellence, Saudi ArabiaAbstract
Saudi Arabia is pursuing pharmaceutical localization as part of a wider transformation of healthcare, industrial capability, supply-chain resilience, and the non-oil economy under Vision 2030. Yet localization is not achieved simply by constructing plants or transferring product licenses. It depends on the ability of domestic manufacturers to translate demand into executable production plans, allocate constrained resources, absorb new products, maintain regulatory compliance, and expand capacity at the right time. This review examines how production planning and capacity optimization can strengthen pharmaceutical manufacturing localization in Saudi Arabia. A structured integrative review was conducted using recent peer-reviewed literature on Saudi pharmaceutical manufacturing, production and capacity planning, pharmaceutical supply-chain resilience, operational excellence, and Pharma 4.0, together with official Saudi, WHO, ICH, and regulatory policy documents. The synthesis identifies five mutually reinforcing localization capabilities: demand-linked master production scheduling, integrated material and capacity planning, bottleneck and asset-performance management, technology-transfer readiness, and digital decision support. The paper proposes a Saudi pharmaceutical localization planning framework that connects national localization priorities with plant-level sales and operations planning, finite capacity decisions, quality systems, workforce development, and investment triggers. The analysis argues that localization performance should be measured not only by local content or the number of domestically produced products, but also by service level, schedule adherence, utilization, changeover performance, right-first-time quality, lead time, and resilience to supply disruptions. A phased implementation roadmap is proposed for 2026-2030. The review concludes that production planning and capacity optimization can function as strategic localization infrastructure, allowing Saudi manufacturers to convert installed assets, technology transfer, and policy incentives into reliable, scalable, and competitive domestic medicine supply.
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