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Healthcare / Medical Equipment Study #1

Synopsis

SBA manages the national distribution program for one of the industry’s largest and fastest-growing laser medical companies.

Project Requirements / Specifications

• High-value Equipment with High Damage Risk
• Centralized (one-source) Customer Service Center
• Door-to-Door; Inside Deliveries
• Lift-gate Trucks
• Multiple Men
• Scheduled Appointment Pick-ups and Deliveries
• Packing-Unpacking, Crating
• Onsite Installation
• Debris Removal
• Secure Warehousing and Storage
• Medical Equipment Inventory Control

Background

Our client is dedicated to researching and providing its customer base with the latest technological advancements in the medical laser aesthetics market. As soon as new physician-approved technologies and therapies become available, our client prides itself on their adaptability to expand service offerings to patients quickly.

In 2006, SBA approached this client to identify ways in which SBA could add value to their national distribution program. This new and improved program involved the collaboration of SBA and our client’s staff, made up of doctors, nurses, licensed estheticians and physician’s assistants.

SBA’s Solution

SBA’s solution for the client consisted of a three-pronged attack on their current operations: improve efficiency, cut costs and strengthen communications.

1. To improve efficiency, SBA began consolidating and shrink-wrapping shipments, while offering white-glove delivery service. By providing inside deliveries and trash removal, SBA allowed the client to free up their staff so that they could focus more on selling and running their clinics, rather than unloading lasers and cleaning up the mess.
2. SBA proposed a new cost-cutting idea: put the lasers on custom mini pallets and save 43% by decreasing the dimensional weight. With only a one-time investment for these custom reusable pallets, the client was able to take advantage of the savings after each initial shipment.
3. Lastly, SBA was able to strengthen communications by providing constant email notification. By emailing the client a daily spreadsheet with the actual status and/or expected progress of all lasers and their respective serial numbers, SBA keeps the client up-to-date on the nationwide movement of lasers to their various clinics.

The Results

• Our client continues to save roughly $200 per shipment based on the commodity’s new dimensional weight factors.
• SBA successfully completed another major project for this client’s 150+ new clinics that opened in 2007. This time it involved the delivery and minor assembly of a different piece of medical equipment to their various clinics nationwide.
• SBA currently handles all clinic openings and updates exclusively for this client.
• SBA has been given the additional responsibility of coordinating with all of our client’s suppliers, while taking over increasing inventory and distribution functions.
• SBA’s creative problem-solving led our client to think of SBA first when referring a freight forwarder to another technological leader in the medical aesthetics market.

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