Research on Inventory Optimization Strategies for Blood Supply Chain Considering Timeliness and Substitutability

Blood, as a precious and scarce resource, faces the dual challenge of waste and shortage in China’s existing blood supply chain. In this study, we investigate the blood supply chain consisting of a blood center and two hospitals, and develop an inventory optimization model that considers blood timeliness and blood type substitutability. The model aims to minimize blood expiration rate while ensuring acceptable blood timeliness, and to study inventory optimization strategies. A TA-TS-HA heuristic algorithm is used to analyze the case, and the results show that inventory control strategies significantly affect the blood expiration rate in each entity, while blood type substitutability has a significant impact on the overall blood expiration rate and shortage rate of the blood supply chain. Considering blood type substitutability within hospitals is better than not considering it. The model provides decision-making ideas for inventory optimization of the blood supply chain as a whole.