EXPLORING EXPERT SYSTEMS AND THEIR APPLICATIONS IN THE PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY IN NIGERIA

Abstract

Pharmaceutical retail organizations are critical to healthcare access and medication availability, yet many continue to experience stock-outs, overstocking, expiry losses, and supply-chain inefficiencies. This study systematically reviewed literature on Decision Support Systems (DSS), Expert Systems (ES), and Inventory Management Systems (IMS) to evaluate their application, integration, and outcomes in pharmaceutical retail settings globally. A systematic review guided by PRISMA identified 149 records, screened 104 unique studies, and included 91 eligible publications spanning 2015–2025. Evidence was synthesized using a mixed approach that combined descriptive statistical analysis, covering publication trends, technologies adopted, geographic distribution, and reported outcomes, with thematic synthesis to identify dominant system architectures, benefits, barriers, and research gaps. The findings reveal strong global growth in DSS–IMS research, driven largely by artificial intelligence and machine learning, and increasing interest in integrated decision-support frameworks. However, Nigeria-specific evidence indicates continued reliance on basic inventory tools with limited predictive or expert-system capabilities, constrained by infrastructural deficits, high implementation costs, weak policy enforcement and limited technical expertise. The study’s contribution lies in foregrounding Nigeria within the global DSS–IMS discourse and consolidating fragmented evidence into a context-sensitive foundation for system design. It highlights the urgent need for scalable, integrated DSS–IMS frameworks incorporating real-time analytics, expert-system intelligence and regulatory alignment to improve inventory performance, patient safety and operational resilience in resource-constrained pharmaceutical retail environments.