This section looks into the head office, clusters and branches. EPSA has 19 branches grouped into 7 clusters. The head office coordinates the activities of the clusters. The clusters and branches serve as outposts to distribute pharmaceuticals, chemical reagents, medical supplies and equipment procured by the head office to localities on all corners of the country. They also gather pharmaceutical demand within their domain and communicate it with the head office to form an aggregate demand at national level. The head office, on the other hand, floats tenders and procures pharmaceuticals from national and international manufacturers centrally and sends it out to branches according to their demand.
Cluster organizational structure is the newly established structure of the agency which is aimed at delivering efficient services by creating mutual coordination among clustered branches. The 19 EPSA branches are currently grouped into seven clusters, each cluster overseen by the most senior branches. As the number of branches is increasing time to time, it is becoming harder and tougher for the agency’s top management to oversee all the branches on a regular basis. Clustering the branches on a geographic proximity basis paves the way to better manage them all so that the agency’s top management will be able to more easily tap performance reports and other information sought from the 19 branches via the seven senior branches. Moreover, it will create conducive environment for the regional health bureaus to discuss supply chain related issues in a more integrated manner.
Inventory management data visibility could be enhanced in a cluster set up, enabling remedial actions to be taken in a less resource intensive way. Customer responsiveness will be better in such a clustered setting as products that stock out in one branch might be available in other branches. Technical support can be better shared among the branches in such a structure. Overall, clustering enables the organization to be better responsive and agile to the needs of its customers.
