Conquering the Chaos of a Decentralized Medical Device Supply Chain

The MNX Way

• One of the world’s leading medical device manufacturers faced a barrier to growth in the U.S.: a decentralized supply chain.
• The result was poor visibility, lost efficiency and higher costs. The  manufacturer needed a stronger, more reliable supply chain.
• MNX Managed Transportation designed a precision logistics solution for outsourcing employee courier management—as well as closing service gaps and handling hot-shot deliveries on demand.
• Today, the MNX solution supports the manufacturer’s market growth by making product deliveries more reliable and efficient, while lowering costs 15-20%.

It was a major barrier to market growth—and the current solution wasn’t working. One of the world’s leading manufacturers of orthopedic and spinal medical devices wanted to scale up and expand sales in the United States, but progress was limited by a decentralized supply chain.

The company operated regional depots and forward stocking locations (FSL) across the U.S. and employed drivers at each location to support local distribution. Fluctuating demand resulted in some drivers sitting around with no work on low-volume days and clocking overtime hours on days when demand surged.

The ability to grow market share was further limited by the ability to hire new drivers and on-board them into the nationwide distribution model. And in areas where employee drivers were not available, the manufacturer had to manage a large network of contract couriers with varying performance standards and processes.

The result: poor visibility, lost efficiency and higher costs. To expand U.S. distribution, this manufacturer needed a stronger, more reliable supply chain.