| Client Info | Medical Supply Distributor | Coverage in 7 states | +50 employees |
|---|---|
| Challenge | A less time-consuming method to take and ship orders than using non-communicating systems and hand transcribing.
Delivery times need to be reduced |
| Solution | Implementation of an application for real-time data transfer across systems |
| Results | Order intake and dispatch process became 75% more efficient
98% less transcription errors Shipping times faster by 50% |
They are a medical supply distributor that focuses on providing the supplies needed by elderly homes.
Their order intake and dispatch systems were completely separate. An external system was responsible for collecting orders from customers, and an internal system dispatching those orders.
Due to the lack of communication between the two systems, a person had to manually enter the orders received in the external system into the internal system to trigger the dispatch.
This human resource had a dual role, but managing the two functions became labor intensive over time, not to mention the significant challenge of responding effectively to customers who required supplies quickly.
The more the business grew, the more orders it had; however, the lack of automation caused human errors when typing orders, resulting in slower shipping times.
Acumen noticed the process at the clients site after performing interviews with key staff and doing regular walkthroughs
observing the day to day operation of the client.
Upon completion of the key interviews and writing up the observations over time, Acumen spoke to management about its
results. Management agreed to have a plan created to improve the efficiency of the operation.
Acumen resources were assigned to observe the way in which the older process was being carried out. Extensive interviews of
the personnel performing the tasks was conducted. Analysis of the print outs and of system one and system two were performed.
Eventually, a diagnosis and plan were created and approved to write software that would intercept the print commands from
the specialized system one and would manipulate the data to be automatically pumped into system two.
The new software was tested and tested to make sure errors and special situations were handled. After approximately 90 days of
testing the special software was released and put in service.
The customer was able to process orders approximately 3000% faster than before. Order times completion times and delivery times were increased by almost 30%. The customer was able to save about 50% of an full time employee (FTE) saving over $25,000 annually and has had that savings for over a decade saving $250,000. The ROI for the project was less than one year.
