Digital Supply-Chain Integration and Cost Efficiency in Pharmaceutical Firms in Enugu State, Nigeria

The study examined digital supply-chain integration and cost efficiency in pharmaceutical firms in Enugu State, Nigeria. The specific objectives were to: examine the relationship between digital supplier integration and waste reduction, and assess the relationship between digital inventory management systems and operational cost reduction in pharmaceutical firms in Enugu State, Nigeria. The study was based on four (4) selected pharmaceutical firms within Enugu metropolis with a high number of staff and long years of establishment. The total population for the study was nine hundred and thirty-eight (938). An adequate sample size of two hundred and eighty-four (284) was determined using Freund and William’s statistical formula at a 5 percent margin of error. Two hundred and sixty-four (264) staff members returned the questionnaire and completed it accurately. A survey research design was adopted for the study. Data were presented and analyzed using mean scores, while the Z-test was used to test the hypotheses with Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). The findings indicated that digital supplier integration had a significant positive relationship with waste reduction (Z = 10.032, P = 0.05), and digital inventory management systems had a significant positive relationship with operational cost reduction in pharmaceutical firms in Enugu State, Nigeria (Z = 9.724, P = 0.05). The study concluded that digital supplier integration and digital inventory management systems had significant positive relationships with waste reduction and cost reduction in pharmaceutical firms in Enugu State, Nigeria. The study recommended, among other things, that pharmaceutical firms in Enugu should invest in and strengthen digital supplier integration systems to enhance real-time information sharing and collaboration with suppliers.