Manufacturing location decisions in the pharmaceutical industry: An exploratory study from a network perspective

Abstract

Global manufacturing companies are increasingly challenging the issue of selecting the appropriate location for manufacturing their products. The possible locations for one company are among wholly-owned subsidiaries, joint ventures and third party contractors, constituting a unique manufacturing network. This question is particularly important in the pharmaceutical industry, where local health regulations often mean production must be set up locally or contracted out, even though manufacturing capacity might exist elsewhere. We conducted ten in-depth case studies in one pharmaceutical company based in Singapore. New understandings in this field and a conceptual framework for manufacturing location decisions are some of the outcomes of this research.