Reengineering materiel management for strategic placement

The future of a hospital's materiel management function will depend on how well aligned it is with the institution's strategic direction. A sleek, customer-directed, information-rich supply process will provide the competitive edge. A reengineering mindset is needed to meet the challenge.     

Electronic data interchange in hospital materiel management

The survey findings reported here support the continued trend toward increasing application of computer linkages in hospital operations. A majority of the hospitals surveyed already had some sort of computer linkages with their suppliers, possibly an EOE system. There were strong indications of expanding computer linkages to other health care institutions, financial institutions, business partners (i.e., insurance companies), purchasing groups, supporting agencies (i.e., libraries, research laboratories, and counseling agencies), electronic mail, and patient billing. Private hospitals, especially nonprofit hospitals, were more aggressive in the implementation of computer linkages. The initial costs of electronic linkage systems seemed to be affordable, or well justified, as indicated by the relatively large number of medium-size hospitals already linked electronically to other institutions. Top management attention was positively related to the implementation of computer linkages to suppliers but played a lesser role in establishing other types of linkages. The overall optimism concerning future expansion of computer linkages suggests an increasingly important role for electronic linkages in materiel management.     

Restructuring materiel management functions: a method for prioritizing changes and reducing costs

The success of any manager depends highly on the ability to seize on opportunities that will achieve the organization's goals. Hospitals are currently searching for ways to reduce costs while maintaining or enhancing the quality of services. Quality services are increasingly being defined as those that are most responsive to customer needs. It is important, as hospital management restructures materiel systems or methods of operation for reduced costs, to focus on the user departments as the customers. The consolidation of materiel management activity should not be seen as a loss of control at the user department level. Instead it can be seen as a new way of providing service with higher quality. User departments should see concrete benefits on a weekly basis, including reduced time spent on materiel management functions; increased planning of purchasing, inventory, and distribution functions; and assistance in meeting restricted supply budgets.     

Pressure ulcers and materiel management: cost-effective prevention and care

In summary, it's important for the materiel manager to have an understanding of the clinical aspects of pressure ulcers. By understanding how ulcers are staged, treated, and prevented, the materiel manager will have a better idea why certain products are needed and how they are used to reduce overall patient costs. Specialty beds, replacement mattresses, and high-end overlays represent a significant cost--approximately $500,000 to $1 million based on studies cited in this article. Further proven by research is the fact that these costs can be reduced by carrying out utilization plans with specific criteria for patient selection. Finally, materiel managers can be key coordinators in the entire process since they are often on the front lines in any institution's cost containment efforts.     

Managing unofficial inventory: a piece of the materiel management foundation

The implementation plan will remain the same: target an area of opportunity, measure and document the amount and value of the unofficial inventory, establish PAR levels, implement the use of hand-held terminals to assist in inventory control, and integrate inventory control with the implementation of new programs that will impact ordering, receiving, distribution, and invoicing. It is anticipated that the inventory in the main OR alone can be reduced by $1.5 million if we move forward with a stockless JIT system. This would reduce the days of inventory on hand from approximately 100 days to between 7 and 14 days. This could also mean a holding cost reduction of $150,000. The merit of reducing unofficial inventory is evident. Managing unofficial inventory is merely one piece of the successful materiel management foundation. The other foundation pieces include contract compliance and price negotiations, systematic methods of ordering products, and timely distribution of products to the end user. PHS cannot effectively move forward to a new, innovative materiel system for the future until we first measure, analyze, and document the present conditions. Once the foundation is laid by improving present business practices, then the framework of the structure can be designed and constructed. The goal is to implement a system that utilizes the full potential of people, equipment, logistics, and information so that our customers, the patient caretakers, do not have to worry about anything except the delivery of quality care.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

How to get top management support for MRP (materiel requirements planning) II

Getting top management support for materiel requirements planning (MRP) is not impossible. When senior management supports the effort, the success rate skyrockets and companies experience results that improve their bottom-line performance. This article describes a step-by-step process for gaining top management's commitment to the effort.     

Yield management: A tool for capacity-considered service firms

Airlines typically sell their seats for a variety of different fares. If customers make reservations early, low fares might be available, but if customers call at the last minute, they will probably have to pay the full fare. Since deregulation, early all airlines have been using a technique called yield management. Yield management allows the airlines to allocate their fixed capacity of seats in the most profitable manner possible. Since the airline's inventory of seats is perishable, the airlines must have a method of quickly and accurately allocating potential demand to capacity. The airline industry has been in the forefront of using management, but yield management has potential application to any firm constrained by capacity. Other services which have adopted yield management include the lodging, rental car, delivery service, rail and cruise line industries.The objective of yield management is to maximize the revenue or yield of the firm. A good yield management system will help the firm decide how much of each type of inventory (whether it be seats on an airplane, rooms in a hotel, or cars in a rental car fleet) to allocate to different types of demand. This article attempts to structure the concept of yield management by reviewing current literature, classifying types of solution approaches, discussing the managerial implications of yield management and presenting a future research agenda. While corporate research on yield management has been performed, most firms are understandably reluctant to share the results of their research with others. Operations management researchers could assist small and medium sized capacity-constrained firms by developing simple and accurate yield management techniques. The intent of the paper is to focus attention n the yield management and stimulate practical and theoretical research in this area.     

Home and away: preparing students for multicultural management

University business schools are key providers of future managers, and in the UK, business and management students are an increasingly international and diverse body. How do their learning experiences draw on these resources of diversity and multiculturalism to prepare students for working in a global economy? This article draws on two studies of business and management undergraduate students at a new UK university. Each was in a different university school, using different research methods. Both came to similar conclusions; that strongly ethnocentric attitudes prevailed among home, UK students, systematically leading to feelings of exclusion and disadvantage among international students, whatever and wherever their origins. However, in terms of gaining understanding and skills in the field of multiculturalism, it was the international students who had the advantage. The implications for preparation of students for careers in the global economy are explored, and the positive results of some subsequent initiatives discussed.