When it comes to using a traditional WMS, many people in the medical device space say they are trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. Are you doing that too?
Most medical device operations teams we talk with are frustrated by the workarounds they need to use to overcompensate for lack of functionality in the non-purpose-built WMS they are using.
- Do you need a loaner management tool? Of course you do.
- Do you need a way to track all inventory inside or outside of kits and trays? Yes, yes, and yes.
- Do you need software that helps capture usage, manage POs, start the billing process and handle all product requesting? Affirmative.
- Do you need to stay FDA UDI compliant? Duh.
- Do you need a better WMS that can actually manage all of your entire field inventory? Probably.
- Do you want to use multiple systems? NO. NO. NEVER.
Complex Problems Require Comprehensive Solutions
The mainline WMS players were built to handle simple and transactional inventory processes.
The medical device industry is so much more complex. You have so many inventory locations, and the traditional WMS tools were not built to handle trunk stock, consignment, central inventory, local warehouses, and loaner management in addition to normal warehouse functionality all at once.
Now when you have kits, trays, and totes that do more than just go out, they come back – and usually not complete, everything gets crazy complicated. This is where a purpose built solution needs to come into play.
Unifying Sales and Operations
The demand signal must drive all behavior. If the sales rep’s tool to schedule cases and request product is unified with the operations tool to manage inventory, unified calendar, loaners, movements, cycle counts, audits, billing, returns… etc. Only then will everyone be on the same page.
Asset utilization will increase. Errors will decrease.
A good WMS is worth it’s weight in gold, a fully integrated medical device specific operations and sales platform is priceless.
A complete tool should be able to or have:
Directed Picking & Put-away
Surgery Scheduling (+ Calendar)
Active Order Visibility
Shipping Coordination (FedEx, UPS Integration)
Customer/Account Management
Opportunity/Lead Management
Surgeon Preferences
Inventory Control & Visibility (All Locations, All Buckets)
Auto Product Replenishment
Commission Calculations
Expiration Notifications
Direct Orders
Send & Receive Tools (Rep to Rep etc.)
Contract & List Pricing (Real-time)
Audit/Cycle Counts
Reporting & Billing
Image & File Sharing
Secure HIPAA Compliant Communication
Mobile Usage Capture
UDI Compliance
Barcode Scanning
RFID Integration
ERP/CRM/EMR Integrations
Demand Planning Tools
Consignment/Loaner Management
Pluggable Workflows (Programmatic Integrations, Integrated Prediction Models)
Sourcing Matrix Tool
HIPAA Compliant Communication Platform (Messages, Calendar, Usage, Notes, Files)
Sourcing Optimization
Future Stock (Virtual Inventory Assigned to Future Events)
Atomic Inventory (UDI Ready, Piece Level Tracking, Serialized or Not)
Hybrid Kitting (Skinny Kits)
Cross Boundary Workflows
Lost & Found (Automatic Cycle Counting )
Merger/Acquisition Integration
Par Management
Multi-Catalog Management
Loan Optimization (1 Loan Per Day)
Separate or Combined Sales & Operations Alignment
Cost-to-Serve & Turn Ratio Dashboards
Sales Metrics / Data (Reps, Leaders, Corporate)
Need to talk with someone? We understand. Call anytime.
phone: 858.956.0208
email: mm@movemedical.com
or visit: www.movemedical.com/product
