Information system to manage blood inventory and direct collection campaigns

Abstract Blood collection is one of the challenges of Brazilian Blood Banks, which aims at providing products produced from blood to hospitals. These organizations face the challenge of meeting supply and demand of blood products. This research paper proposes a system to manage inventory levels of blood products in Blood Banks to direct blood collection campaigns. The idea of the system is to maximize the offer and minimize the waste caused by products’ expiry dates. The system was implemented in open source development environment, without financial cost, allowing portability and gratuity characteristics for the system. The system was implemented with real blood bank data to demonstrate system’s functionalities, such as demand forecast. Through comparison of this information with inventory levels, the system provides guidance for blood collection campaigns. It presents a clear and intuitive interface with many features to support the activities of the blood banks and it is able to meet the needs of Blood Banks in Brazil and worldwide.