Mobile Robot Simulation of Mid-sized Hospital Delivery Processess

Flexible automation in the form of mobile robots holds the potential for decreasing operating costs while improving delivery performance in mid-size hospital delivery systems. This paper discusses the use of simulation modeling to analyze the costs, benefits, and performance tradeoffs related to the installation and use of a fleet of mobile robots within mid-size hospital facilities. The results of this study enable a better understanding of the delivery and transportation requirements of mid-sized hospitals. Specifically, we examine how a fleet of mobile robots can meet the performance requirements of the system while maintaining cost efficiency. We show that for clinical laboratory and pharmaceutical deliveries a fleet of six mobile robots can achieve significant performance gains in terms of turn around time and delivery variability over the current system of three human couriers. Specifically, the simulation results indicate that using mobile robots to perform both clinical laboratory and pharmaceutical deliveries can result in a 75% decrease in cost, a 34% decrease in turn around time, and a 38% decrease in delivery variability.