Vaccine Vendor Mananged Inventory: The Effect of Using Birth Forecast Information

Background: In the United States, through the Vaccine for Children Program (VFC), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) distributes routinely recommended pediatric vaccines for children of low income families that cannot afford vaccination. Under the Vaccine Management Business Improvement Project (VMBIP) started in 2003 to improve the current vaccine ordering system, the CDC uses a periodic review inventory model to suggest the order size that healthcare providers use to place orders according to pre assigned frequency. However, the current VMBIP implementations can induce higher vaccine demand variability resulting in higher vaccine inventory levels across the VFC supply chain.

Setting: Public health vaccination provider sites, pediatric clinics, hospitals where inoculation is provided and vaccine distribution centers under VFC in the United States. 

Population: Providers and nurses who order vaccines under VFC, distributors who send vaccines to providers and vaccine manufacturers.

Project Description: This study proposes a different VMBIP implementation based on a centralized pull system that triggers vaccine orders before children are born. Discrete event simulation models are used to evaluate the impact of the proposed model and derive conclusions under which, a Vendor Managed Inventory system could be implemented.

Results/Lessons Learned: Our preliminary results show that using birth forecasts to trigger vaccine orders can significantly reduce vaccine inventories in the VFC supply chain and increase service levels.