Red Cross – Secret Masters of Supply Chain and Logistics
By Alex Batty, MHI Marketing Communications Coordinator |@mhi_alex
I gave blood semi-recently. For me it’s a super chill way to give back and you get a snack at the end. Win-win.
Then (more recently) I got an email saying:
Thank you for giving blood with the American Red Cross on 7/8/2017. After first ensuring that local needs were met, your blood donation was sent to Piedmont Fayette Hospital in Fayetteville, GA to help a patient in need. Your donation is on its way to change lives!
I thought, “Whoa! How cool that they know exactly where it went. Somebody in Georgia is walking around with my blood. HEY GEORGIA BUDDY.” And then, because I work in this job, I started to wonder how they did that. How I got the email that tells me exactly where it went.
Supply chain.
Barcodes.
Internet of Things.
Blood donation is participating in supply chain Industrial Internet of Things. It’s alllllllll connected.
The Red Cross has to track each donation very carefully because if they discover something wrong with the blood, they have to be able to find it and destroy it. But, following the consumer market, they are making that information known to the customer (donator) to connect them to the product (saving lives).
I was watching the prep, and they print barcoded stickers attached to your information that they stick on EVERYTHING. The bags, the little vials, your post-experience informational packet. And they scan everything to put it in the system. Then, while I was chilling in the odd reclining chair, letting my heart do its work, I was watching another worker prep the post-donation bags for storage and transport. And it was all supply chain basics.
They have to keep it below a certain temperature (refrigerated transport) so they pack it in ice. The product must be packed carefully as it’s fragile. Before the product goes in the box, each one is scanned and put into a system to track and trace (using handheld scanners to do so).
The more you learn about this industry, the more you realize it’s EVERYWHERE. Even when you donate blood. And with the magic of technology, now you can find out where it went right in your inbox.
Supply chain knows how to get it done.
Side note: From a marketing/communications standpoint, this is cool as well, because knowing where your donation is going creates an emotional connection and can encourage people to donate more in the future. Smart, Red Cross, smart.
