It’s my belief that healthcare supply chain professionals can learn much from world-class supply chain leaders in other industries, since they have been developing, experimenting, and then institutionalizing new innovative supply chain ideas for decades. With this said, here are nine lessons from world-class supply chain leaders you need to know about:
- Visibility: The foundation of supply chain management is visibility of your spend. If you don’t know who, what, when, and where your healthcare organization is spending its money, how can you even attempt to control it? Do you have an automatic process to extract your spend data?
- Strategic Plan: Most industrial supply chain departments have a strategic plan (updated annually) to guide their supply chain operations and align with their organization’s goals and objectives. Do you have a strategic plan?
- Leadership: Supply chain professionals need to have a seat at the executive table, so they are part of the entire decision-making team. Are you a member of your hospital, system, or IDN’s management team?
- Automation: The best way to retain best-in-class prices, standardization, and utilization is through supply chain automation. Have you automated these mission-critical processes or are you still doing it manually?
- Analytics: Supply chain data needs to be visualized so it can be analyzed and interrupted to discover hidden savings. Have you automated this process?
- Scorecards: Key performance indicators (KPIs) are essential for measuring, managing, and monitoring all supply chain operations, expenses, and teams. Do you have a balanced scorecard to provide this information for you?
- Agility: Supply chain management needs to modify their strategies, tactics, and techniques on the dime as changes occur in the healthcare marketplace. Do you have the tools, resources, and expertise to do so?
- Walk-Around Management: Get out from behind your desk to visit your staff, customers, and vendors. You will be amazed at what you will discover to increase productivity, reduce costs, and add value to your department.
- Networking: Networking within and outside your healthcare organization will help you with a flow of new ideas, building lasting relationships, and enhancing your business strategies. How many networking events have you attended in 2016?
Benchmarking your healthcare supply chain organization against these world-class best practices can only make your supply chain operations better than just good.
It is the best way that I know of for supply chain professionals to stay relevant, proactive, and forward thinking. Don’t ignore this benchmarking opportunity for your supply chain department to become more mature.