LEAN DEMAND FLOW PROJECT SUMMARY

1. DEMAND FLOW
 Objective One: Save Critical Resources: Time andMoney!
 Objective Two: Remove silosanddevelopaunifieddatadrivensupplychainoperation
 Objective Three: Introduce andsustain standardwork andlean processesthatdrives
continuous improvement
1. What improvementwas neededandwhy? TransformMercy Hospital’ssupplychain operation
intoa competitive advantagebybuilding visuallymanagedkanban/distributionsystemthatis
focusedon Total Cost of Ownershipandwaste elimination.
The previous distributionprogramwasveryfragmentedandpoorlystructuredleadingtothe
followingchallenges:
 A CompartmentalizedSupplyChainOperation (ORandLab didtheirownthing) which
ledto a significantamountof rework, redundancies,andexcesswaste
 Highinventorylevelsthatservedasasafetynet for poorinventorymanagement –
resulted inawaste of resources(time,money,andspace)
 No standardworkor distributionprocessthat supported continuousimprovement
 Poordata/analytics(nometricstomeasure performance)
2. What evidence wasin the improvement?
a. Reducedmedical supplyexpense
b. The clinical end-useriscompletelyremovedfromthe suppliesmanagementbusiness
c. Predictable /visual operationunifiedthe supplychain
3. What outcomeswere achieved?
a. Clinical hours spentinsupplychainreducedby28,000 hoursa year
b. 30% lessstorage space requiredonnursingunits
c. Newsystemsupportsall areasof hospital (notjustimpatient) withlessresources
d. 97% overall fill-rate(from82%) forentire hospital
e. Annual medical supplyexpensereducedby ~$1 million
f. Warehouse space reducedby50%
g. 33% SupplyChainstaff efficiency (3.5FTE savings)
h. Removedriskforreplenishmenterrorsbyreplacingamanual parcart to visual
automatedsystem
4. Increase instaff satisfaction –91% overall satisfactionrating
5. Can this work be replicated? Yes
 ImplementationProcess:
1. ItemMaster Readiness
2. House wide programintroduction
3. 5S work area
4. Data review/forecast
5. Mockup eventwithclinical participants
6. Installation

2. 7. Training
8. Sustain(Metrics/Dashboard,StandardWork,andcontinuedleadershipsupport
 Describe the specificimprovement:
1. Neatand orderlysupplyroom(clinical andnonclinical)
2. Concise reorderprocesses(no“eyeballing”supplyquantities)
3. Visual alertstriggerimmediateaction
4. Eliminatedexcessandexpiredsuppliesfromall workareas
5. Stat callseliminate,clinicianshave everythingtheyneedtodotheirdailywork
6. Unifiedsupplychaindrivenbystandardwork
7. Significantreductionintime,space, cost,andotherresources
 What toolsor people were keyto success?
 BlueBinInc. - a group of working consultants focused on providing best-in-
class supply management systems to healthcare institutions and medical
centers across the globe
 Clinical Staff
 SupplyChainEngagementLeader
 DemandFlowTech
 DemandFlowDashboard
 VariousKanbanBinsandRacks
 Measurement:

3.  Results/Success:

4. 1. What were the outcomesof this work beyondyour metrics?
 Rapid5 S (verycleanandorganized)
 Highsatisfactionfromclinicians
 Increase in supplies
 Easierto retrieve supplies
 More time to take care of patients
 Veryclearinstructiononuse of the program
2. How were quality,service resources,etc. improvedfrom thischange?
 Average time toservice asupplyroom wasreducedby30 minutes
 Average skuavailabilityincrease twiceasmuchinsame location
 Reduce/eliminatethe opportunityforobsolete items
 33% FTE efficiencyimprovement
3. Commenton key learningsand suggestionsfor replicationelsewhere.
 Consistentlycommunicate the changesandexpectedoutcomesbefore,during,
and afterproject
 Create and uphold standardworktodrive continuousimprovement
 Data, Data, Data!!!
 Buildrelationshipswiththe clinicians…theirinputiscritical