Determining optimal locations for blood distribution centers.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Blood banks have to be thoughtful about supply chain decisions to effectively satisfy the blood product demand of hospitals. These decisions include the number and locations of distribution centers (DC), as this has a strong impact on both transportation cost and the ability to deliver emergency orders in time.

Study design and methods

We propose a mixed-integer linear programming approach to find optimal DC locations for supplying individual hospitals. The model maximizes the number of hospitals reachable from a DC within a given time-limit, and minimizes transportation cost. The minimal amount of data required is a set of hospital locations. The model can be further attuned to the user's needs by adding various model extensions. The model's use is demonstrated b

SUBMITTER: Wemelsfelder ML 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10092065 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature