Developing a multi-objective model for a multi-level supply chain of blood products under uncertainty and the global pandemic: a hybrid robust optimization approach

Abstract

The global COVID-19 pandemic has caused a substantial decrease in the blood supply and its products as a vital commodity. It has had adversely affected on the activities of blood organizations and facilities as well as public health. In this critical situation, the particular supply and blood demand products have affected certain sensitive managerial decisions. The purpose of the present study is to develop a multi-objective formulation for a multi-level supply chain of blood products under uncertainty and global pandemic conditions. The modeling is based on three objectives: minimizing the costs of the entire blood supply chain network, minimizing the pandemic virus transmission by donors in each of the blood donation centers, and maximizing the attractiveness of the blood donation centers in order to optimize the blood supply chain conditions and meet the needs of patients in the best possible way. Besides, since uncertainty is an integral part of supply chains, an efficient combination of scenarios, intervals and fuzzy robust optimization approaches is applied. As the results show, using robust approaches to deal with uncertain parameters can provide excellent conditions for efficient responses to those who demand blood products as well as pandemic patients who need the plasma of survivors.