SUPPLY CHAIN STANDARD DECEMBER 2008
www.supplychainstandard.com
Supply Chain Innovation
Winner
Innovation is a tricky thing to assess. Whereas many may
believe they are being innovative with their initiatives,
others may see those approaches as merely good practice
solutions or perhaps just novel developments. To be
innovative an idea has to be more than just novel or
different, it has to involve a step change in creativity; it has to
deliver a method, technology or process that is unique for
that sector. In some instances it may be the innovative
application of a known technology or perhaps, the transfer of
innovative technology from one sector to another. For
certain, creativity is an essential ingredient in the mix.
This year there were five contenders for the Supply Chain
Innovation Award: BT Supply Chain, DHL Exel Supply Chain,
Guy’s & Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, Hewlett Packard
CDS and Kimberly-Clark.
BT Supply Chain has introduced a Right First Time control
desk that integrates a number of existing processes and
systems to give an early warning system for potential failures
in the order and collection process – it alerts for product
shortages out in the field through real-time confirmation.
DHL Exel Supply Chain’s entry related to its customer RAC
Autowindscreens and a new night transport and delivery
network for ensuring that windscreens arrive at 123 fitting
centres across the UK before 8am. The project required the
development of a unique wheeled glass distribution stillage
and a keypad recognition system for drivers to gain night
access to fitting centres.
The innovation entry for Hewlett Packard CDS concerned
the bringing together of a number of technological solutions,
from barcode scanning of all parts, to automated sourcing of
requisitioned parts and automated purchasing. More than 65
per cent of all purchase orders are now raised automatically.
For Kimberly-Clark, innovation took the form of a low-cost
connectivity platform for communicating with and selecting
hundreds of carriers and matching to potentially thousands
of customers. These stakeholders, with whom the company
previously transacted business manually, are now trading
electronically regardless of their technological capability.
When it came down to assessing the relative values of the
innovative steps taken by each of the entrants, the judges
asked the key question: “was it a company innovation, or was
it an industry changing innovation?”
SCS:THE EUROPEAN SUPPLY CHAIN EXCELLENCE AWARDS 2008 35
Guy’s & Thomas’ NHS
Foundation Trust
This may sound fairly straightforward,
but in the health
service sector this is innovative.
Shortlisted
BT Supply Chain
DHL Exel Supply Chain
Guy’s & Thomas’ NHS
Foundation Trust
Hewlett Packard CDS
Kimberly-Clark
Sponsored by Supply Chain Standard
David Lawson, head of
procurement, Guy’s &
Thomas’ NHS Foundation
Trust, James Harris (centre
right), procurement sourcing
manager, and Robert Watts
(centre left), sales director,
Squadron Medical, accept
the Award for Supply Chain
Innovation, from Supply
Chain Standard and
Logistics Manager editor
Malory Davies (far right).
Jeremy Vine is far left.
The judges found it difficult to see the innovative step at
HP CDS and Kimberly-Clark. What they were doing was good
practical stuff, but while it was absolutely innovative for
them it probably wasn’t for the industry, say the judges.
For the judges, the entry that demonstrated an industry
changing innovation was that from Guy’s & Thomas’ NHS
Foundation Trust. Over the past 12 months the organisation,
together with its logistics service provider, Squadron
Medical, has been focusing on gaining control over basic
supply chain practices, such as category management,
rationalisation of supply base, inventory tracking, and fill
rate improvement from suppliers. Not exactly innovative
stuff, but now the organisation is in the process of
introducing a totally new automated replenishment system
in theatre as part of the supply chain network. Storage units
allowing access to authorised staff only are equipped with a
computer-controlled system that monitors the use of stock
and automatically re-orders as items run low. This may
sound fairly straightforward, but in the health service sector
this is innovative.
Under the previous process clinical staff counted stock
and completed paper requisitions to re-order supplies from
multiple suppliers. The process was time consuming,
inefficient, and created over-stocking and obsolete stock.
“The Guy’s project is really an innovation in hospital supply
chain management. It can be seen in the US, but it’s certainly
innovative in Europe. This is an exemplary case study for
other hospitals to follow,” say the judges.
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