Risk Assessment in Managing the Blood Supply Chain

Blood supply chain system involves blood collection, processing, inventory management, and distribution in the network. Blood has its unique characteristics that make its supply chain to be more complex and dynamic than the traditional one. Most research in the blood supply chain management focuses on logistics and practices in operation. However, there is a lack in the study of risk management in this aspect. Supply Chain Risk Management is a new paradigm in the blood supply chain, which can be explored further to manage risks in the complex and dynamic supply and demand networks. A hierarchy based model of supply chain risks was applied as a conceptual research framework to classify risks into four sub-chains; namely, physical, financial, informational, and relational sub-chains. Empirical data were collected by group brainstorming with experts and practitioners as well as by information audits in order to identify risks in the blood supply chain context. Risk assessment was conducted based on two angles, the likelihood of occurrences and the consequences. A summary risk score was calculated for each risk to analyze the values of the risk. Results of risk assessment were presented in a risk matrix to represent the impact of risks in the blood supply chain. This evaluation supports practitioners to prioritize issues in the blood logistics management in order to identify risk management strategies. The contribution of this research is discussed in order to arrive at an innovative and more effective approach to cope with risks and uncertainties in the blood supply chain management.