Healthcare Supply Chain Technology and Strategy

Business Depends on Integrated Purchasing and Logistics Studies finds that purchasing and logistics collaboration results in greater efficiency, reduced complexity and lower operating expenses. Organizations that integrate their purchasing and logistics functions deliver better business results, according to a  new study  from the Global Supply Chain Institute at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. No surprise then that companies who want to achive this goal are uniquely suited to a single integrated ERP software system that easily allows cross function communications. From the small business with 3 employees that has the same purchasing and sales agents. To the multimillion dollar one with a team of 10 purchasing agents and 50+ sales people the study proves that communications and a single view are paramount in making your operations work effectively. But the study, involving more than 180 supply chain professionals, also shows that many firms fail to capitalize on this o...

Keys, wallet, cell phone – most people don't leave home without them. Among today's consumers, the forgotten cell phone invokes the most panic. In a recent Pew Research Center study, 30 percent of individuals surveyed described their phone as "something they can't imagine living without." Mobile devices, specifically smart phones and tablets, have become the mission control center for managing all aspects of life. Increasing consumer dependence on mobile devices represents huge opportunities for all types of businesses that can learn quickly to leverage and embrace mobile technology trends. Does your business have a well-defined mobile strategy? Mobile Strategy should involve not just the traditional sales models and ecommerce sites, and while it's important include those in your mix, one often overlooked area is purchasing and warehouse management. Just because the mobile device is in your warehouse doesn't mean it's not part of your mobile strategy.  T...

Ace Hardware Corp., a 90-year-old co-op that oversees nearly 5,000 locally owned hardware stores, never would be mistaken for trendy. But its recent growth proves that everything old eventually becomes fashionable again. “We are a service-based, high-touch, local business,” says John Venhuizen, CEO of the Oak Brook-based chain. “The shop-local trend is one that has served us well.” Does this sound familiar to you? You might be a "service-based, high-touch, local business" as well.  Ace always has focused on modest stores. Its average footprint is about 8,000 square feet, a mere couple of aisles in a typical 100,000-square-foot Home Depot. Lower overhead helped propel Ace to record profit and sales . Net income increased almost 28 percent to $104.5 million as revenue rose 8 percent to $4.15 billion. But while small may be beautiful, it's still small. For perspective, Home Depot Inc. rings up more every three weeks, on average, than Ace does in an entire year. Mr. Venhuizen...

using Customers to generate REFERRALS How can you generate more referral business? This is not really about the death of a salesman, but in some ways the traditional sales methods are changing and while salesman are still needed, You still still need to look at other methods to build that sales funnel.  Referrals are becoming a primary mechanism for how we make decisions. A  2012 Nielsen study  found that 92% of consumers trust word-of-mouth or recommendations from friends and family above all other forms of advertising. A  Texas Tech study  found that 83% of consumers are willing to refer after a positive experience—yet only 29% actually do. How can you take advantage of the opportunity to close that gap? How do you get a referral engine going? 1. Get connected. Find a way to get and stay connected with people you meet. People who are interested in your work, people who you’re interested in, people you can help — they’re all valuable relationships and it’s neve...

It's a balancing act, focusing on smaller orders with higher profits while keeping your larger customers happy. "When you look at the speed of change and the level of uncertainty, specifically when you look at things like omnichannel and e-commerce, growth rates are hard to predict. "  That overwhelming emphasis on speed, though, means that fast and accurate communication between you and your customer is crucial. Google, Amazon and others are delivering in under an hour, but they are getting paid more for the products and services they provide. This added profit cones either in the form of a subscription service like Amazon Prime  or just higher prices on items with smaller delivery windows.  "As omnichannel becomes more prevalent, that's driving a lot of pressure in the DC/warehouse  environment. A lot of distribution networks can handle delivery for B2B and classic commerce. But there are many companies who don't have the internal expertise or right infrast...

FREE web based training videos to now available on our Support Web Site Often when faced with a daily challenge , I will tell people to just google it , but more and more I am finding that people learn from video in a much more common and simple fashion.  We wanted to give customers an easy and exciting new way to learn the MDS system.  And a result we have released a set of training video's specifically tailored to the questions our customer have asked us.  If you follow TED Talks you might enjoy this one,  http://www.ted.com/talks/daphne_koller_what_we_re_learning_from_online_education?language=en But really the point in that video allow you to learn at your own pace , and while it's not interactive and responsive (yet)  it does allow you to save time and money and you don't have to remember everything anymore.. Traditional training methods are still available via our Training Department but more and more clients are taking advantage of self paced web based tr...

  The Systems House, Inc. announces the release of an Interactive Online Shipping Integration Kit   for the MDS Suite of Products In keeping with the fraud prevention theme of the month, we have expanded our proof of  delivery options to allow you to better track and identify where your packages are heading.  As more and more providers move to a home health based model and take advantage of shipping to nurses in the field or to patients directly. It is increasingly more important to  have real-time access to proof of delivery and signature information.  With our latest updates this information is at your fingertips..     Shipping Integration is Simple and Easy Shipping integration is an important part of any ERP system. TSH has extended our use of the MDS Web Services framework to integrate both FedEx and UPS's online XML API's. What this means for TSH customers is the ability to do utilize their current FedEx and UPS accounts within the MDS ...