Computer simulation for reengineering the linens delivery process with RFID in a hospital

Abstract

A hospital in Southeast Asia considers deploying a radio-frequency identification (RFID) system to improve the linens delivery and tracking process. This study uses computer simulation in modeling and comparing the process both with and without the RFID system and also assesses the impact of the RFID system on the process in terms of time taken and visibility of linens in the process. The simulation results show that the new process with the RFID system takes about 5.04 minutes longer for soiled linens and about 31.48 minutes longer for clean linens than the current process without the RFID system does. The increased times are mainly due to the activities added in the process to implement the RFID system. The results also demonstrate that the RFID system significantly improves the visibility of linens in the process. The results of this study could prove helpful to those who consider deploying an RFID system for the linens delivery and tracking process in hospitals or other similar processes.