A Gateway to the Nordics and Beyond
Issue 61
July, 2023
In Focus
Hospital logistics solutions from ACCI With cutting-edge technology and expertise developed over the years, ACCI has developed a successful model for handling logistics operations for hospitals
Supply chain logistics requirements for pharma and hospital industry are unique — time bound delivery and temperature controlled environments are critical. With its years of sectoral expertise, Avvashya CCI Logistics (ACCI) delivers world-class solutions for healthcare logistics and inventory management.
Pharma companies and hospitals are looking at the next phase of growth, but there is a significant gap between strategic vision and operational reality. Among other factors, one of the critical enablers of growth for India’s pharma and hospital industry is maturity and quality assurance in terms of supply chain logistics. There is a pressing need for hospital and healthcare supply chains to be more efficient: to cost less and provide better service.
There is another unique aspect to hospital logistics — the fact that internal hospital logistics is even more complex than the external side, and medical staff spend disproportionate amounts of paid time performing logistics activities — time which would be better used to provide patient care.
Consider this: any large hospital uses a vast amount of material in the care and treatment of its patients — a 1,500 bed hospital will have to manage a fast-moving inventory of as many as 3,000 stock-taking units (SKU) every day.
What does that mean from a logistics perspective? For the hospital, logistics makes for as high as one-fourth of operating costs. When it comes to inventory and stock management, hospitals have specialised needs that are vastly different from any other industry. For example, there is a vast amount of glassware and fragile items, along with large beds and electronic equipment, as well as medicines which have to be used up as per expiry dates!
For hospitals, the supply chain strategy should be to maximise patient care by:
- Ensuring product availability.
- Minimising storage space and inventory, thus maximising space for patient care.
- Reducing material handling time and costs for all medical staff (nurses, pharmacists, doctors, etc.).
Access to efficient and cost effective logistics services is a big factor enabling hospitals to reduce incurred costs on procurement and transportation, thus paving the way to affordable healthcare. This new-found focus on supply chain improvement has given rise to an increasing trend toward centralisation and customer-centric thinking.
This is where Avvashya CCI Logistics Pvt Ltd (ACCI) steps in. ACCI has developed strong capabilities in specialised healthcare solutions that bring down both costs and operational hassles for hospitals, thus freeing them to focus on patient care.
Healthcare-specific solutions
Partnering some of the India’s top chemicals companies, ACCI has established its reputation in the market for expertise in handling chemicals and hazardous materials, as well as superior competencies in agro chemicals, pharma products and packaged food.
When it comes to healthcare, ACCI has developed customised solutions that handle the complete supply chain logistics — from vendor to warehouse, warehouse to hospital bin, bin management to billing support — while also taking care of minute aspects such as expiry dates on medicines.
ACCI’s aim is to partner hospitals by:
- Developing, strategic supply chain management (SCM) that will enable hospitals to meet higher standards of patient outcomes by timely replenishment.
- Reducing and redefining the distribution models.
- Introducing best practices to build a lean material flow, integrate SCM processes and achieve higher efficiencies throughout the supply chain.
- Continuous improvements across the supply chain by receiving feedback from the end-user departments.
- Eliminating inefficiencies by setting right processes at hub and for delivery operations.
- Establishing an integrated supply chain network that is aligned with the organisation.
Designs, inventory, performance
ACCI’s expertise in efficient movement of materials can help hospitals reduce excess inventory, which in turn, can have a direct positive impact on bottom lines.
ACCI is involved right from hub management, facility layouts, and warehousing processes. Moreover, it also handles critical aspects such as individual requirements for material storage and preservation, such as humidity and temperature control.
Inbound and outbound operations at the hub level and at the hospital premises are all managed through smooth and efficient processes, including labelling that ensures seamless processing of material right up to billing against individual patient records.
Technology is an integral part of ACCI operations. ACCI uses state-of-the-art Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology to track and monitor movement of inventory.
The RFID tags enable automation and optimisation, which helps bring down costs and enhances.
ACCI also works with the hospital to improve performance management, by providing key performance indicator (KPI) tracking, especially of critical reports, review of manpower deployed and ensuring adoption of continuous improvement processes. ACCI also strictly ensures compliance with the Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) guidelines and environmental regulations.
Critical sector
Healthcare is a critical segment in India, with the nation expected to rank amongst the top three healthcare markets in terms of incremental growth by 2020.
”The sector, one of the fastest growing in the country, is expected to see a CAGR of over 22 per cent to reach $280 billion by 2020. Not surprisingly, major business groups in India have also forayed into the healthcare sector, setting up hospitals that have huge logistics requirements,” says V Raju, Head Chemical and Pharma logistics, Avvashya CCI.
The major players in the sector include: Aditya Birla Memorial hospital, Manipal Hospitals, Fortis, Narayana Health, Max Healthcare, Wockhardt Hospitals, Apollo Hospitals and Medanta.
”Today, healthcare providers are under enormous pressure due to increasing competition, government regulations, rising costs, demand for higher quality of service. Healthcare organisations must strive for value addition across the entire supply chain and the answer lies in the latest innovations in RFID technology, supply utilisation management and virtually centralised supply chain management,” adds Raju.
This is where ACCI with its cutting-edge technology implementation delivers the differentiator in hospital and pharma management. Supported by qualified and professional work force who understand the minutiae of hospital and pharma management, ACCI has already moved ahead taking giant strides in providing very successful hospital management and pharma management services to prestigious customers throughout the country.
