The Situation

Medline Industries is the largest privately-held manufacturer and distributor of medical devices and surgical products. In 2012, the company expanded into orthopedic devices by founding its Medline UNITE® Foot & Ankle division.

From 2013 to 2017, the division sold through Medline's direct salesforce. Then in 2017, the strategic decision was made to shift to a distributorship model that could meet the needs of surgeons while working in partnership with Medline's sales team to leverage hospital and surgery center relationships. This channel shift drove a need for reporting and inventory traceability that internal systems could not offer.

At the time, cases were handled via multiple spreadsheets and SAP. The method presented serious challenges. Because of how SAP functions, most sales and inventory activities were tracked based on previous invoice activities, which happen long after surgery is completed. Sales and inventory data and the associated trends could lag 30, 60 or even 90 days. This meant the team had no comprehensive real-time data. To add to the challenge, operations staff were extremely busy tracking and wrangling inventory daily.

Daily case volume was seven to 10 cases. How could Medline UNITE grow daily cases--and sales--while struggling to compile activity, track inventory and compensate for limited visibility?

Problems to solve:

• Lack of visibility into upcoming surgical cases, inventory needs and timely PO collection from hospitals
• Better management of field inventory across distribution, reps and product line
• Address inefficient processes, including tracking and shipping
• Reduce average order processing time
• Automate manual processes
• Transform/eliminate spreadsheet-based processes
• Decrease staff strain and frustration
• Prepare processes for growth in case volume

Click here to read how Medline UNITE solved all these problems and grew over 400%.