An interactive optimization model for sustainable production scheduling in healthcare

Abstract

The Healthcare industry is one of the service sectors in the industrialized world with the highest carbon footprint. Sustainability strategies offer significant environmental and financial benefits for healthcare organizations. This study presents an interactive optimization model for sustainable production scheduling in healthcare by considering production models for medical products with carbon. The manufacturer uses a rework tactic to repair the defective items. The shortage is not allowed because a lack of essential medicines may be expensive in terms of wasted resources, avoidable disease, and death. The model includes variable setup costs and carbon emissions from production, storage, and transportation activities, which may be reduced by green investment. This study aims to advance the expertise of sustainable production scheduling by mathematical models to look for advanced solutions that help achieve net-zero emission goals and lower costs while enhancing the patient’s experience in healthcare. An iterative solution approach is applied, which is offered analytically and numerically to arrive at the optimal solutions. The results imply that the healthcare sector’s outsize ecological carbon footprint can be reduced without compromising quality by designing optimal production strategies. Besides, the findings in the study confirm that green investment is the greatest economical method for reducing carbon emissions and overall healthcare system costs.

Keywords

• Optimization
• Sustainable production
• Scheduling
• Green investment
• Carbon footprint