Is there a Single Bullet Solution for Supply Chain?
I read an article this week by Joseph M. Dudas, Vice Chair of Category Management, Mayo Clinic, in the HPN Magazine where he says “The reality is that a single bullet (or solution) is not what drives the most efficient and effective supply chains. Many of the popular retailers (e.g., Wal-Mart) have developed and embraced a complete arsenal of solutions and a very well-coordinated deployment plan” that has enabled them to be enormously profitable and successful.
This “single bullet” myth, so aptly described by Dudas, got me thinking about what solutions healthcare organizations are employing to rein in their supply expenses. The first and foremost of these solutions are GPOs; hospitals belong to 2.9 of them to lower their direct cost. The next solution, as I see it, is value analysis teams which are almost universally employed at all healthcare organizations today. Third is spend managers, which I’m told, about one-third of healthcare organizations are subscribing to these services to check their prices and manage their contract compliance. Fourth, are automatic supply cabinets to manage supplies, drugs and charges in customers’ departments.
These are four examples of the preponderance of solutions in the supply chain cost management, that come to mind, that are or will become best practices in the very near future. As I’m sure you notice, no one solution was the “single bullet” that resolved all supply chain expense management challenges. As Dudas suggests, it will require multiple solutions (or an arsenal as he calls it) specifically tailored to the task at hand to efficiently and effectively manage and control each and every unique aspect of your supply chain cost management.
The lesson to be learned here is that just because you have some of your supply chain cost management areas under control with your current solutions, no one solution (or single bullet) is the answer to all of your supply chain cost management challenges (i.e., utilization management, contract management, resource management, etc.). That’s why an arsenal of solutions is necessary to wring the towel dry on all of your supply chain expenses. One solution or “single bullet” won’t get the job done!
Filed Under: savingsblog • Supply Chain
