Blood supply chain operation considering lifetime and transshipment under uncertain environment

According to the characteristics of blood inventory control problem under the condition of blood shortage, the dynamic decision-making problem of blood supply chain is investigated in this paper. Firstly, based on the recursive equation, the state transition equations of two categories of blood demand under two inventory issue strategies (FIFO and LIFO) are given. The mathematical expressions of key indexes such as blood outdating and blood shortage are obtained. A blood collection decision making method based on EWA (Estimated Withdrawal & Aging) strategy is proposed. Then, an optimal model of blood transshipment problem is established with the goal of the shortest transshipment time and the maximum freshness of the transported blood. In addition, an allocation planning model with multiple priority requirements and fairness concerns is established to achieve the best fairness and the minimum shortage. Besides, a discrete event system simulation (DESS) framework is designed according to the characteristics of the model. Finally, the effectiveness of the decision-making method and EWA inventory strategy are verified by numerical simulation. The results show that safety stock, target stock level and fluctuation range of demand have significant impacts on the control effect of blood inventory. (C) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

This paper investigates the dynamic decision-making problem of blood supply chain under blood shortage conditions, proposing a blood collection decision-making method based on the EWA strategy. Models for blood transshipment and allocation planning are established, and a DESS framework is designed for simulation experiments. The results show that safety stock, target stock level, and demand fluctuation range have significant impacts on the control effect of blood inventory.