Case Study: American Red Cross achieves near-real-time inventory visibility and faster blood distribution with Microsoft Power BI

The American Red Cross keeps blood products circulating where needed with Power BI

The American Red Cross distributes about 6.5 million blood products each year to roughly 2,500 hospitals and transfusion centers across the United States. Managing perishable, variable-demand inventory across multiple distribution centers—previously done with complex, hourly-updated spreadsheets—created visibility gaps and risked shortages. To address this, the American Red Cross deployed Microsoft Power BI for unified data analysis and visualization.

Using Microsoft Power BI, the Red Cross merged manufacturing, planning, forecasting, and warehouse data into interactive dashboards and mobile reports that deliver near‑real‑time visibility. Power BI’s drill‑downs, slicers, and mobile app let staff locate single units, initiate rapid transfers between centers to prevent shortages, and support 24/7 operations; it also powered COVID‑19 and convalescent plasma dashboards—improving responsiveness and decision-making across the organization.

American Red Cross

Scott Heiry

Director, Enterprise Business Intelligence