Quick and easy processes are especially important in medicine. After all, every second counts! To conduct scientific research and diagnosticsas efficiently as possible, all areas of an institute must work togetherwell. A simple, organized inventory management systemis a vital part of that. The Institute of Pathology at Bern University was faced with this exact challenge: How does one improve inventory management?
In this blog entry you'll learn about...
- ...how we implemented a more streamlined inventory process at Bern University
- ...what challenges this presented
- ...how the project was completed
- ...why it is vital to the medical field, not to have to rely on Excel sheets - and how Bern University will never have to again!
The challenge - Meeting the needs of every department
The old Excel tables that have been around since 1996 were just too disorganized and out of date. A newer, better solution was needed.Implementing auniversal software for an entire institute is no small feat – every department, such as materials management, IT, logistics and labs all have different requirements that must be met. ITEXIA, together with Bern University, developed a specification sheet and hosted a workshop to analyze internal processes and to assess every single need of each department. From the data they gathered there, ITEXIA developed an itexia.inventory software that was custom tailored to the Institute of Pathology. A project schedule was designed, and all team members were instructed on how to handle sensitive medical information. After being trained to use the specific software, the team was supposed to do the first inventory cataloguing of 1,343 assets over the timespan of three weeks, by using scanners, printers and digital labels provided by ITEXIA. However, during cataloging the team discovered ca. 1,100 additional assets that had been lost to the system in the Excel tables. So instead, the team cataloged ca. 2,400 assets in the same time frame, almost double the amount originally planned!
About the successful project completion the COO of Bern University, Guido Suter says: “ITEXIA is not just a software, it’s a solution.” The implementation of the itexia.inventory software brought about a streamlined process of cataloging assets at the Institute of Pathology at Bern University, while simultaneously updating the current inventory catalog. The additional assets which were discovered during the projectare now available to be used and future inventory management is easier, eliminating the possibility of such a large sum of assets going missing during the inventory cataloging process. By using an external team of experts for such a large project, Bern University was able to see the project be completed quickly and efficiently, while saving internal resources for day to day business. The new software systems allows for much quicker and easier asset management, saving valuable time, effort and resources by integrating all of the different departments needs into one, simple solution.
A good tool for inventory management is vital to any business, but especially in the medical field, where every second counts, having an exact overview of the resources available is of the utmost importance.