The Problem
For the product to be successful, the treatment process must be reliable, but must also scale to be financially viable. Maximizing the capacity of the cell treatment facility in order to process as many treatments as possible within a given period of time is critical. However, the cost of failure is high, so minimizing the risk of failed treatments is also critical. The scheduling and execution of the treatment process presents a difficult challenge due to the unique nature of the treatment process:
- The treatment process involves the extended handling of live tissue. Because of this, expiration times to and from the processing facility are short and absolute. If expiration is exceeded inbound or outbound, the treatment fails.
- Patients may be treated nearly anywhere in the country. The transportation process to and from the cell processing facility is complex and highly variable.
- There are many players in the treatment process, each with their own scheduling constraints.
- The cell processing facility has limited capacity.
- There is an extremely high cost of failure, since the treatment is very expensive.
- A successful regimen requires a number of successful treatments. There are regulatory maximum and minimum times betweeen treatments that must be respected.
The company has implemented an ERP system to manage the entire value chain, but recognizes that the standard scheduling and schedule execution functionality within the application is insufficient to meet the unique demands of the treatment process.
Cancer Treatment Scheduling Page 2 of 5