Surgical supplies demand forecasting

The purchasing department at the Isala hospital in Zwolle has to deal with many emergency materials shipments. In this research, an emergency shipment is a shipment delivered within 16 working hours, outside the regular (periodical) deliveries. For these emergency shipments, the supplier and employees of Isala must take additional actions. Each emergency shipment costs extra money and therefore has to be reduced as much as possible. This study aims to forecast the surgical materials demand for orthopaedic surgeries in Zwolle based on the operating room schedule. Furthermore, it investigates the behaviour of employees in relation to emergency shipments by studying the literature and observing and talking with the employees.