More collaboration reduces healthcare logistics costs

The cost pressure on the medtech industry is increasing, which means that also the supply chain professionals in that industry have to take a closer look at cost levels. More collaboration in the supply chain is often mentioned as a way to achieve that goal. Buck Consultants International takes a closer look at the various forms of collaboration.

Collaboration can be found in horizontal directions (two manufacturers bundling forces) or vertical directions (collaboration between manufacturers, logistics services providers and hospitals). Johan Beukema, partner at Buck Consultants International, comments: “Both forms of collaboration get more attention at the moment. Horizontal collaboration in medtech for now still stays relatively simple e.g. sharing of line haul capacity to integrator platforms. Vertical collaboration has really gotten more attention over the last 12 months. Currently, this is mainly driven by leading manufacturers who set up, on an individual basis, programs to work better together with hospitals. Ultimately this will include a.o. mutual process optimization and some level of systems integration.” A key question towards this vertical collaboration is whether this in the end will contribute to more standardization across the industry or whether it will lead to a scattered landscape of individual collaboration initiatives between single manufacturers and hospitals.
At the Logimed conference in Berlin Johan Beukema presented, together with Healthcare Logistics Forum representatives of Medtronic and Life Technologies, roadmaps for companies in the medtech supply chain who are open to more collaboration. “In the context of the HLF we are now working with 5 companies in a pilot towards in-depth collaboration in distribution. An organizational model is being developed in which an independent party will act as information broker.”

More information:
Johan Beukema, phone +31 24 3790222, johan.beukema@bciglobal.com