Not so long ago I published a post about the
challenges that products that need cold temperatures to be preservedface, and
the different aspects that make the cold chain a very particular type of Supply
Chain and probably the fiddliest in terms of transportand reliability (you can
find the post here).
Continuing with this topic, this post is an approach
to what probably is the most challenging type of delivery and hence the one
that entitles most complications. Organ transplant.
Organs for transplant are one of the most critical
shipments. To ensure viability of the organs, transportation and logistics must
be flawless and perfectly coordinated, quality and speed are the key factors.
Organ transport requires an extraordinary level of
24/7 readiness over a wide geographic area. Some organs, such as a heart or
lungs, can stay viable for only 4-6 hours, the cold ischemia time, (the maximal
time that the organ outside the body can be kept in a storage solution), making
their delivery to the operating room a true race with time.
The
transplantation process starts in the hospital when a potential donor is
notified. The organ is then prepared and stored before it can be transported.
Considering
the limited time for transport and the fact that the smallest mistakewill
probably hinder the success of the transplant, reliability in transport is a
must in these cases.
Thinking of organ donation as an end-to-end
Supply Chain we should also consider a few facts that make things even more
complicated:
- You
never know when your “product” will become available
- You
have multiple products coming from the same “supplier”, which are going to
different destinations, with a limited shelf life.
- You
need to obtain the “product” from the “supplier” with specialists and each extraction
requires a different approach. Furthermore, until the “product” is actually extracted,
its viability is unknown.
-
When
it is known that a “product” is becoming available, there is a search to find
who the customer is who is most in need. The customer could be a few (or a
hundreds)kilometres away.
-
As the
customer is identified, there is a need to assemble specialists at the
“customer’s” location for “installation” of the part.
- And
during this entire time, the actual logistics for the transport will need to be
put in place in a last minute scenario, with transportation “experts”
accompanying the “product”
If you though your Supply Chain was challenging and
stressful and your customers too demanding, I guess it’s time torecap!
