Page 21 - Case Study Annual 2015
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that the quality of the blood provided is tested as 24/7/365. TrenStar offers SANBS 99,99% uptime and
dexterously as possible. full Disaster Recovery support.
• The solution’s basis should not have complicated
processes, but be easy to perform and manage. Track and trace
• SANBS would need to source an easily manageable
blood hamper using robust materials that would offer To ensure blood safety during transportation, the BRB
superior product protection during transportation. hampers are equipped with tamper-proof safety seals,
• The solution should provide near real-time tracking electronic temperature loggers or temperature colour
and visibility of all blood hampers. Time is a resource indicators that allow for any temperature fluctuation
undeniably critical to patient support. to be carefully monitored for additional security and
product quality. For track-and-trace purposes, all blood
From the defined objectives, the problem definition hampers were furnished with at least one unique
could be summarised in three vital factors that would identification label and one secondary identification
guarantee the success of the project: that corresponds to the barcode. No hamper would
• F irst, the solution implemented would have to cater be issued into the supply chain without a unique
barcode as well as the TrenStar Control Centre number
for the most critical success factor, which was always (08600 BLOOD) printed on it. This unique identity
the time-bound need for a particular blood product of each hamper enabled the near real-time tracking
to be delivered with thoughtfulness and competence. and visibility of the hampers to be introduced into the
• T he second over-arching factor was the urgency SANBS supply chain.
to track and trace for confirmation that the vital
blood products reached their destination within the If the blood required is not an emergency, the
specifications from the private hospital concerned.
• Thirdly, the SANBS had a requirement for a system that hospital merely adds the order to the list of blood
could monitor and control the couriers transporting
blood between the blood banks and private hospitals. orders for the day.
The solution BRB programme
TrenStar SA was identified as the partner and immediately The BRB programme was designed for two processes:
embraced the challenges, offering to combine the • Scheduled Delivery Process – any blood or specimen
propriety supply chain intelligence that the company
had developed through years of experience with the order that is not an emergency. SANBS and the
desired vital factors to contribute to efficient delivery of hospitals have daily schedules defined whereby normal
the critical blood products. pickups and deliveries of blood take place. TrenStar
• T he first step in the solution resulted in the Blood tracks and manages the collection and delivery of
specimens and blood between the hospitals and
on a Returnable Basis (BRB) programme, which was the Blood Bank. This process is enabled via the
identified as central to the success of SANBS’ services. use of mobile scanner technology and the TrenStar
This required the development of a unique ‘BRB Enterprise Asset Management (TrenStarEAM) system
hamper’ to transport the blood. TrenStar, being that records and processes all the transactions
predominantly involved in packaging solutions, against set business rules as specified by SANBS.
knew that the start of any supply chain solution If the blood required is not an emergency, the hospital
would be to design a form of packaging that merely adds the order to the list of blood orders for the
would fit SANBS’ very specific, specialised needs. day. The courier responsible for the logistics adheres
The hamper was specifically designed to maintain to a daily schedule, where the courier drives to all
blood at the desired temperature for a longer time. the hospitals on a milkrun to collect specimens and
In addition, the hamper would enable any blood unit transports the orders between the relevant hospitals
that had not been used by hospitals within a 10-hour and the Blood Bank. The courier will scan at the critical
time frame to be safely returned to stock for re-issue. points to ensure the visibility of all the BRB hampers
This innovation would not only save the patient the and the blood, which is monitored by the TrenStar
difference between the cross match fee and the cost Control Centre. The courier will also pick up empty
of a full unit, it would also allow for this life-giving hampers from previous deliveries and scan them out
source to be returned to stock for use in another as empty returns to the Blood Bank. This will serve
critical life-threatening incident. as a proof that the courier followed the scheduled
• The second step in the solution was the creation of collection procedures and to prove that the courier was
the TrenStar Command Centre, with its Call Centre,
which is a hosted solution staffed and operated
the logistics news case study annual 2015 19
