Optimization of Operations by Simulation—A Case Study at the Red Cross Flanders

Abstract

The Blood Service at the Belgian Red Cross-Flanders is responsible for blood collection in Flanders (Belgium). One of their missions is guaranteeing a constant and sufficient supply of safe blood products. This is a critical public health need, since the blood products can save lives of victims from traffic accidents or in the event of major blood losses in hospitalized patients. The main objective of this project is optimizing the operations flow in donor centers, in such a way that the waiting time for donors is minimized and that the donor center occupation or productivity is maximized. In this case study, the flow of three types of donations is investigated. Blood and plasma are donated in all donor centers (<i>i.e. </i> 11 donor centers in Flanders), while blood platelets are collected in only six donor centers. Based on data collected from the 11 donor centers in Flanders, a simplified simulation model was developed, which can be used to optimize the operations flow based on the expected number of donors and their moment of arrival at the donor center. The simulation model is built in Enterprise Dynamics 9.0 simulation software. The input data in the model are data that have been collected in collaboration with the Belgian Red Cross-Flanders. Different scenarios will be analyzed to gain insight in the impact of small changes in the input parameters on the performance of the flow. In this paper, a gap analysis is conducted to identify extra data needs. With these additional data, a more detailed model can be constructed to test the scenarios, and a dynamic planning tool will be developed to rely on when setting up the capacity of the donor center in order to find a scenario with the most optimized flow.