Case studyCardiology department at the Västerås
Central Hospital in Sweden
Implementing a new clinical inventory
management system saves the Cardiology
department at Västerås Central Hospital
at least €54,000 every year
in operational savings.
Cardiology department at the Västerås Central Hospital in Sweden
This case study shows how Scan Modul System’s SpaceTRAX® application helped the Cardiology department at the
Västerås Central Hospital save money by improving the inventory management processes.
THe depATMenT
Chief Consultant Mr Ortwin Herterich explains that the main reason for implementing a new inventory management system
in the Cardiology department at Västerås Central Hospital was to improve inventory control and reduce the time the staff
spent on ordering. Mr Herterich was also interested in reducing the department’s wastage.
The department also wanted to improve its ordering process. All of the department’s orders were placed manually – on
paper and in pencil – and were received and counted by means of visual inspection and physical counts, a time consuming
and somewhat inefficient way of managing inventory.
The staff were frustrated and felt they were spending too much time on ordering and managing inventory. Time they felt
could be better used treating patients.
The Cardiology department at Västerås Central Hospital has 1 procedure room and carries out an average of 27 procedures
per week. The department has 433 unique item numbers and an annual purchase volume of €1,200,000.
dO we HAVe THe RigHT iTeMS?
Before SpaceTRAX® was implemented, the Cardiology department’s average inventory level was €270,000, 26% of which
was consignment stock. ‘it was clear that the department’s stock was too high, but by how much and which particular
products we had too many of, no one actually knew,’ explains Mr Herterich.
The implementation of SpaceTRAX® gave the department full insight into all of the items: consumption, quantity in stock,
price, expiry dates, minimum and maximum stock levels etc. According to Mr Herterich, this insight significantly improved
inventory management. After just three months, the average stock level was reduced to €180,000, or by 33.5%. The lower
stock levels generates one-time savings of €90,000 and an annual reduction of inventory costs of €4,500.
Scan Modul System 3
The system has given us full control of our inventory and plenty of statistical evidence to support better order management”
Chief physician Mr Ortwin HerterichVästerås Central Hospital in Sweden
“
Case study
Department details
number of procedure rooms
Average number of procedures per week
Unique item numbers
Annual purchase volume
1
27
433
€1,200,000
HOw MUCH dOeS SpACeTRAX COST?
The price structure for SpaceTRAX® depends on the number of procedure rooms in the department, and is based on a
monthly flat fee. There are no restrictions in terms of use, number of users or the amount of data stored.
There is a one-time implementation fee, which covers the physical inventory counts, importing data to the global product
database, setting up the system in the department and training the staff. According to Mr Herterich, the implementation
went very smooth. ‘The system is very easy to use and provides a good overview of all of the products,’ says Mr Herterich.
The system not only quickly reduced the time the department spends on ordering and maintaining inventory, it also quickly
reduced the number of items held in stock, and hence the number of items that expire and need to be scrapped. This
quickly resulted in considerable savings for the department.
And within the first year, the disposable savings due to a reduction in inventory of 33.5% were considerable.
The Cardiology department at Västerås Central Hospital has saved money from the very first day SpaceTRAX® was imple-
mented: in fact at least €106 every day. it also helps the department obtaining the items best suited for production, optimally
control its inventory and scrap as few items as possible with as little effort as possible.
wHAT dO we need TO ORdeR?
The Cardiology department at Västerås Central Hospital used to spend some 36 hours a week on inventory management
and ordering, which almost corresponds to one full-time position. implementing SpaceTRAX® has significantly reduced the
time the department spends on inventory and ordering (approx. 77%), resulting in labour cost savings of €32,000 per year.
‘Freeing up human resources is one of the most significant benefits we have achieved with the implementation of Space-
TRAX®,’ says Mr Herterich.
SpaceTRAX® automatically updates the re-order report, which displays the items that have fallen below their minimum
stock level. The department has access to the re-order report at all times and uses the information on the report to decide
when to order an item.
By dynamically updating the re-order report, the system adapts ordering to the department’s daily operations, enabling the
staff to place orders as needed. This is a much more efficient way of working than planning daily operations around the
planned ordering routines.
MOney SAVed iS MOney eARned
Mr Herterich estimates that the Cardiology department scrapped €20,000 worth of items every year, or 1.7% of the annual
purchase volume. By implementing SpaceTRAX®, the number of expired items has dropped considerably, ‘as the system
continuously and automatically updates us on the products with an impending expiry date. we now have a tool that enables
us to pick the oldest items first and mark the items that will soon expire,’ says Mr Herterich.
This and many other features in SpaceTRAX® help ensure that the items in stock and the items on order are the right items
in the right quantities. This reduces the number of items that need to be scrapped, generating annual savings for the Car-
diology department of €18,000 (90%).
Case study
Scan Modul System 5
Labour
Average hours per week spent on inventory management
before implementing the SpaceTRAX® system
Average hours per week spent on inventory management after implementing
the SpaceTRAX® system
35.7
8.2
Annual labour cost reduction with the SpaceTRAX® system €32,000
Wastage
After 3 months with
SpaceTRAX®
Before implementing
SpaceTRAX®
items that expire in percentage terms 0.2%1.7%
Annual wastage €2,000€20,000
Operational savings with SpaceTRAX®
Annual savings One-off saving
Reduced inventory level
Reduced labour costs €32,000
€90,000
Reduced inventory costs
Reduced expired items
Total
€4,500
€18,000
€54,500€90,000
ROI
percentage Return on investment
Return on investment in months
Average earnings per day
year 1
1.7 months
717%
€339
year 2
3.3 months
359%
€106
year 3
3.3 months
359%
€106
Inventory
After 3 months with
SpaceTRAX®
Before implementing
SpaceTRAX®
Average inventory level €180,000€270,000
Annual inventory cost €9,000€13,500
Who we are
THe FUTURe
‘The entire staff likes working with SpaceTRAX® because they can see the system’s benefits. we now spend very little time
on inventory management and ordering, and the system gives us full control and plenty of statistical evidence to support
better order management,’ says Mr Herterich.
Mr Herterich expects patients will benefit as well as the staff: He is confident that the department will be able to attract the
most competent staff in the field because they will feel they are using their resources properly – on patients and not on re-
petitive administrative tasks, such as maintaining inventory, re-ordering or checking the products shelf life. ‘we have chosen
the right system - SpaceTRAX® - to help us achieve our goals for the future,’ says Mr Herterich.
Case study
Scan Modul System 7
Scan Modul System offers full supply chain re-engineering us-ing products and services we developed ourselves. Our goals is to use the knowledge and experience we gained over the last 40 years to improve the conditions for everyone interact-ing with the supply chain across the organisation.
Best practicesScan Modul System is part of the Stanley works Corporation. The strong global presence and diversified nature of Stan-ley works allows Scan Modul System to source best prac-tices within logistics across a vast number of industries and markets. The workflows of these industries and markets are integrated with our software applications and hardware solu-tions.
Leading standardsThe scope of our presence ensures national legislation and statutory requirements are met in all our product lines. This
has resulted in a revolutionary industry-leading storage and transport platform of high-density storage and functionality.
Emerging technologiesThe innovative integration of demand capture capabilities through RFid (Radio Frequency identification) creates value across our product lines and adds dimension to the applica-tion by automating real-time information processing. For 40 years, we have been the leading global company within high-density/low-value storage.
This business case has been produced and published in co-operation with and with permission from Cardiology depart-ment of Vesteräs Central Hospital and Mr. Ortwin Herterich.
For more information on SpaceTRAX® or to arrange a live demonstration, contact one of our global sales departments (see back cover for details).
Scan Modul System
Scan Modul System reserves the right to make alterations without prior notice. SMS Marketing . 1009 - 05-69030.UK.EU - Version 1
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