Horizontal collaboration in a decentralised system: Indonesian blood supply chain

ABSTRACT This paper examines the impacts of horizontal collaboration among blood transfusion units (BTUs) in the Indonesian blood supply chain to anticipate problems such as uncertainty of supply and demand. The conceptual model developed in this study, as well as its implementation, considers the uncertainty. A discrete event simulation is used to evaluate the horizontal collaboration with three main performance indicators: the rate of blood shortages, the rate of outdated blood bags, and the total profits. Two blood transfusion units (BTUs) in Indonesia are examined as case studies in this research. Based on data from the two case studies in one year, a set of experiments, results, and sensitivity analyses were conducted to test the benefits of horizontal collaboration. The results show that the horizontal collaboration decreases blood shortages, outdated blood bags, and inventory costs and increases the total profits. The total revenues increased, and there was additional income from selling blood bags to partner collaboration.