Overview

Caris Life Sciences Laboratories provide sophisticated diagnostic, prognostic, and theranostic information for doctors who then make a diagnosis for a patient and choose a treatment plan.  Their expansive network of clinics utilizes their testing supplies, education materials, forms, and other branded products.

Understanding the Challenges

Members of the Caris marketing and customer service staff were spending significant time devoted to fulfilling and distributing products to customer clinics.  Caris incurred expenses for rental storage units to store inventory without reliable inventory management processes or cost controls in place.  Problems resulting were over-ordering of inventory, loss of print materials version, and incomplete shipments due to stock-outs.  Perhaps the biggest challenge was trying to keep up with the inconsistent reporting from multiple locations on which clinics had already received products and what they had actually ordered and unitized.

Setting New Objectives

Caris Life Sciences’ internal marketing team needed a solution to automate the ordering and distribution of materials to their clients, the doctors at their clinics. Caris also needed a reporting system to measure the accountability of the products used, an approval system, online customization of forms by doctor/clinic, and sophisticated integration with their internal cost accounting system. Additional goals were cost control, customer service, speed, and inventory management.

The Advanced-Online Solution

Advanced-Online took control of all products needed by Caris’ clients including printed materials, lab supplies, forms, promotional items, and other miscellaneous products while creating a single online ordering process to support all clients. Additionally, stationery and internal products were added with a portal for employee or internal purchases.

Advanced-Online set min and max levels for all inventory items based on historical use to eliminate backorders to customers. An automated process for replenishing inventory levels and approvals was next put in place. With tight controls and reliable data, obsolete product spoilage dropped drastically. Backorders and delays to customers were virtually eliminated. Shipping was also streamlined and costs were reduced.

A sophisticated reporting system rolled up all information for management review along with a customized billing solution that put the marketing team in the driver’s seat to make informed decisions about spending by the client.

Advanced-Online provided freedom from the huge overhead costs associated with sourcing, producing, managing, inventorying, and shipping print and other products to their customer clinics. The financial burden of having key marketing and customer service employees previously devote significant administrative time to these tasks has been eliminated by automation.

Advanced-Online’s sophisticated online ordering solution has proven to be successful for Caris creating an environment of high customer service for Caris’ clients, tight spending and reporting controls, and automation reducing staffing costs at Caris.

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