RAD Tool Speeds Up Turnaround at Medline

Ask a comedian what the most important thing is about telling a joke, and he'll blurt out -- while you're still asking the question -- "Timing." [Chuckle. Chuckle.] Ask a medical supplies company executive that question and you'll get the same answer. But this time it's not a punch line, it's the industry mantra. "Timing is everything."

Delivering a high-quality product for a competitive price is a prerequisite for entry into this multi-billion dollar a year industry. But to survive, getting the product to the customer on time is the most crucial market differentiator.

At least, that formula works for Medline Industries, the highly successful medical supplies company headquartered in Mundelein, Illinois. Medline's Dynacor Division produces over 500 products ranging from hospital apparel to surgical supplies. Wally Treu, Dynacor's vice-president of operations, is responsible for assuring that the pipeline from manufacturing to delivery is constantly filled. "This business is a lot like the commodities markets. Lots of places have the products, so it's very important to be priced competitively. But beyond that, if you don't have it on the shelf to ship as soon as the customer orders it, you will lose the business. So we're very service oriented."

Medline prides itself on developing high-quality, innovative products that help the health care industry operate more efficiently and cost effectively. For example its pre-packaged medical kits furnish healthcare workers with all the supplies they need to perform any number of medical procedures. The goal is to provide everything they need in one place. And as a result, workers don't have to spend valuable time assembling the various components. Treu explained, "The kits are ordered by a doctor or hospital for a specific type of procedure. It's different for each case. The kits can range from a dozen to well over a hundred components. The whole idea is that the hospital doesn't have to stock all these individual components. It also saves them the time and expense of having to put the procedural kits together. We will make several months supply for them, keep the kits in stock and ship within twenty-four hours. So, they can keep a minimal inventory on hand and save in labor costs."

Keeping the Supply Line Filled

Medline's commitment to its customers has fueled the company's rapid growth despite an increasingly competitive marketplace. And like other companies enjoying brisk expansion, Medline's outdated information systems could not handle their burgeoning success. "We were growing too fast. We couldn't handle the shear volume. What was working well five or six years before was slowly eroding. The system we had was limited to only certain areas of the company. There was nothing for planning and inventory control," Treu said. "In addition, the system wasn't integrated. When the parts did work well doing what they were designed to do -- they couldn't communicate very well with each other. We decided that we needed a better system."

Medline embarked on a search for a new software solution to carry the company into the future. With cost and ease of use as their primary considerations, they sought a new material requirements and planning (MRP) system they could implement with minimal modifications, yet one which would not compel them to alter their internal operations, "We looked at how well the packages fit with what we were doing. We didn't want to completely change how we did business," Treu explained.

Ultimately they selected Data 3's SIM/400, bundled with a RAD application development tool -- the mrc-Productivity Series -- to run on a model D45 AS/400. The MRP/RAD package has proven crucial to Medline's IS strategy. The SIM/400 product provides them the power and database capabilities that Medline needs to manage their vast manufacturing and distribution operation. And for a customized feel, the mrc-Productivity Series furnishes them with the added flexibility to manipulate and use that data in any manner they require.

Hunter Banks, Dynacor's vice president of materials management, described the division's implementation strategy, "We had a no modifications approach. So after we put the new system in, we had everybody keep a yellow pad by their terminals. Every time they had a question or a problem, they wrote it down. As we went through the implementation process, a lot of those got crossed off, or people forgot about them because the changes weren't necessary anymore. A couple of months down the road, we started to get a feel for what people really needed. We used the mrc-Productivity Series to develop the applications to address those needs."

Using a RAD application development tool to bridge the gaps between different databases and different vendor systems has given Medline that extra edge needed to keep the product flowing to the customer on time. For instance, to permit users easy access to the vast amounts of data stored on the system, they created a vendor cross reference system. Treu recalled, "Because Data 3 comes as a package, it doesn't have every single thing we need."

Indeed, the canned system did well accessing the native data using Medline's internal item numbering system. However it did not permit them to access the data using external vendor numbering schemes. "Our lot number and the vendor lot numbers are different. The system allows us to conduct searches based on our lot number -- but not the vendor's. So now, using this retrieval application we built with the mrc-Productivity Series, we developed file structures that allow us simply to type in the part number. Then it will look up all the companies that use it. All we have to do is call up the vendor lot number, and it will retrieve all the information we need."

"Likewise, frequently an item comes in from a vendor without the Medline part number referenced," Banks added. "But with this retrieval we built, we can also view the data from the vendor's perspective. So all we have to do is type in the vendor's part number and it will bring up all the information we need to correct the error and keep things moving."

All told, Medline has developed well over one hundred reports and applications on the new system. Some are used only one or two times -- others, over and over. Key to their success has been the ability to develop the applications quickly and with minimal technological impediments. Treu elaborated, "The mrc-Productivity Series became a way for us to write quick exception reports. That's where it started." Beyond that, Treu was pleased that the development barriers he encountered on their old system are now all but eliminated, "You would hit that wall and become frustrated. With the new system, that wall doesn't exist. You keep going."

The Bottom Line

With their new, long term MRP/RAD strategy firmly in place, Medline is realizing some immediate benefits from their migration. Cost and time saving top the list. "We would have had a lot more custom writing to do if we used our old system," said Treu. "The new package probably saved us the equivalent of one permanent programmer on staff. Instead of having two we just have one."

Perhaps even more important is the speed with which Medline can now access information in the system and respond to all contingencies that may arise. Without this capability, delivering the product to the customer on time would be considerably more difficult. "You find that a lot of the reports and applications you need -- you need right now," Banks summed up. "There's not enough time to go over to the systems group, get it specked out and have them write it. Especially when they have a lot of other priorities. They don't have the time. And I can't wait two or three days for them to run off a report. In this industry its very common that by tomorrow it'll be too late. With the mrc-Productivity Series, we can do a search very quickly and in less than an hour have the report we need. It's very easy."