The Medicine Flow: Unlocking Efficient Inventory Management for Pharmacies in Bamenda

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the effects of inventory management practice on the supply of medications to pharmacies in Bamenda town. The paper then continues to look at how the pharmacies in Bamenda town manage inventory management systems. Another objective was to determine how pharmacies in Bamenda town maintain a good relationship with their suppliers and how information and communication technology in inventory management affects the supply of medications in pharmacies within Bamenda town.  Data were collected through administered questionnaires using a combined sample size of 50, from 10 pharmacies within Bamenda town. The paper uses descriptive statistics and multiple regression analysis to establish the relationship between inventory management and the supply of medicaments. The analysis from the finding revealed that there is a significant level of acceptance of each of the inventory management practices. Strategic supplier partnership was the most embraced inventory management practices by pharmacies in Bamenda town, having a grand mean score of 4.21. Secondly, followed by Information Communication Technology with a grand mean score of 4.19 and finally the inventory management systems (4.00). While the regression analysis using multiple regression analysis showed that all inventory management practices have an effect on the supply of medications in pharmacies in Bamenda town thereby rejecting all the null hypothesis. We therefore recommend that pharmacies in Bamenda town should embrace the various forms of inventory management practices to improve on the supply of their medications especially in the application of information and telecommunication in the practice of their inventory management.