Blood Platelet Production: a multi-type perishable inventory problem

Abstract

Blood banks produce and store blood products in order to fulfil the uncertain demand at hospitals. Platelet pools are the most expensive and most perishable blood product having a shelf life of only four to six days. Production volumes need to be chosen carefully in order to reduce outdating while keeping the occurrence of shortages low.

We investigate the structure of the optimal production policy by solving a down sized periodic Markov Decision Problem. The optimal production volumes appear to depend on the number of pools on stock and their ages. Simulation results for the optimal MDP-policy suggest two rules: the 1D and 2D rule. Both rules perform quite well. The 2D rule performs nearly optimal even if one acknowledges the distinction of multiple and limited compatible blood groups and the uncertainty in the supply by donors.