The Blood Product Supply Chain and Transfusion Network

The bloodBlood supply chainSupply chain is a complex system that covers all the processes required to ensure a continuous, safe supply of blood from donorsDonor, Donation to patients. It encompasses several key stages: the collection of blood from donors, either in fixed collection centers or via mobile units, followed by sorting, storage, distribution, and an inventory management system to avoid shortages or excesses, taking into account the perishability of blood products. Human blood, a rare and precious resource, can only be produced by humans; no other substance or chemical method can replace it (Attari and Jami in J Intell Fuzzy Syst 35(2):2015–2033; [6]) Özener et al. in Comput Oper Res 102:10–21, [32]). It is essential for the proper functioning of the human body and vital for the maintenance of life Hamdan and Diabat (Comput Oper Res 101:130–143, [22]). However, the demand for blood by patients is uncertain and varies according to a number of unpredictable factors, such as accidents or surgical emergencies. The aim of this supply chainSupply chain is to ensure that bloodBlood is available in sufficient quantity and in good condition to meet patients’ needs. To ensure this availability, the hospital chain resorts to mobile collection, while minimizing losses and optimizing system efficiency. In this chapter, the author aims to propose a benchmark that takes into account all the steps involved in setting up a blood network, starting with the determination of the most important collection points to visit and then proposing the optimal schedule of visits by introducing various constraints such as time windows, perishability characteristics, and the uncertain demands of healthcare facilities. A practical example serves as an applicative framework for the implementation of the proposed benchmark, namely the hospital logistics networkNetwork of the city of Tlemcen, which serves as a support for real data. The structure of the document is given by the bellow flowchar.