Integrated optimization of blister packaging design and three-dimensional package arrangement decisions in pharmaceutical industry

This thesis addresses a comprehensive and integrated optimization challenge in the pharmaceutical supply chain, inspired by the operational processes faced by a leading pharmaceutical company in Turkey. The study combines two separate but interconnected optimization problems: (1) integrated blister packaging design and long-term production planning for tablet-form pharmaceuticals, and (2) bundle package-carton-pallet assignment and usage in the shipping process. The overall goal in both problems is to maximize space utilization while minimizing total operational costs, and to support sustainability goals by reducing raw material usage and thus lowering carbon emissions in both packaging design and shipping processes. For the first problem, a special meta-heuristic approach based on Adaptive Large Neighborhood Search (ALNS) has been developed, followed by a preprocessing algorithm, a problem-specific mixed integer mathematical model, and local search. For the second problem, shipping optimization, a mixed integer linear programming model complemented by a preprocessing algorithm has been proposed. Computational experiments using realistic data demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed models and solution methodologies in generating high-quality solutions across various planning horizons and demand/shipment scenarios.