Supply chain management and healthcare logistics can, and must, work hand in hand to keep hospitals and clinics running at optimum performance. This is even more true when outfitting a new construction or expansion project.
Working with a dedicated capital equipment distributor can streamline the logistics process allowing supply chain management to maintain control over how deliveries, supplies and equipment flow into your facility.
High Demand for Accuracy: In a healthcare facility delays can sometimes have a severe negative impact on patients requiring care, testing and/or treatment. It is therefore imperative to have the right materials in the right amount delivered to the right place at the right time in proper working condition. Accuracy of order processing and delivery is key to the effective management of the supply chain process and requires a properly functioning logistics process.
Consolidation of Deliveries: When it comes to new construction projects, expansions or remodeling, equipment distributors can assist in the supply chain management function of a healthcare facility by focusing on consolidation of deliveries. This allows everything from small items to extremely large equipment items to arrive in an organized manner.
On these occasions an equipment planner, who can work with the equipment distributor, can be a big help in organizing deliveries to specific areas, consolidating materials and reducing the number of deliveries. Equipment for each department can be assembled and staged in line with the needs of the clinicians and their department for optimum efficiency upon delivery that streamlines operational processes across the facility.
Value Added Services: A dedicated equipment distributor can provide a single point of contact for the healthcare facility with regard to ordering, storing, staging, assembling and delivering the needed equipment.
This means:
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No need to maintain large storage areas
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No need to pay additional fees to have a third party logistics service store and, assemble then ship products
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Everything is delivered to the warehouse of the distributor who sorts, stages, assembles and inspects the orders and delivers them in a single delivery
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Costs are usually reduced due to the buying power of the equipment distributor
Avoid Communication Disconnects: A dedicated equipment distributor can act as a single point of contact between the hospital and the various vendors. This provides the supply chain management team the opportunity to focus communication on one entity. The distributor can then communicate with the various vendors to receive and store the products until the facility is ready to receive them. This eliminates the need for the supply chain management team to try to communicate with the different suppliers and arrange for a coordinated delivery schedule from them.
To enhance the communication process, electronic links to a single shipment provider (equipment distributor) allows for real time tracking of orders to assure that they will be delivered on time.
Improved Productivity: Utilizing an equipment distributor to address the procurement and delivery logistics for a large project reduces the time requirement on the part of the supply chain management team thereby improving their productivity. Productivity is further increased by the equipment distributor receiving, storing and then delivering the equipment items in a coordinated fashion, and in accordance with your desired schedule, to the specific location where they will be used.
CME is proud to be a dedicated equipment distributor with over 30 years of experience in the healthcare industry. We constantly seek to enhance our procurement and delivery logistics processes to help hospitals, clinics, healthcare networks and IDNs control their costs associated with acquiring new hospital equipment. One way we do this is through our Direct-to-Site (DTS) delivery.
About CME: CME Corp is the nation’s premier source for healthcare equipment, turnkey logistics, and biomedical services, representing 2 million+ products from more than 2,000 manufacturers.
With two corporate offices and 35+ service centers, our mission is to help healthcare facilities nationwide reduce the cost of the equipment they purchase, make their equipment specification, delivery, installation, and maintenance processes more efficient, and help them seamlessly launch, renovate and expand on schedule. We would be happy to speak with you to discuss your equipment acquisition needs. Get in touch with us, today!
