MEDICAL SUPPLIES DISTRIBUTORS
Stock, Credit and Receivables for a Medical Supplies Distributor
A hospital's purchase manager rings for gloves, syringes and a specific catheter. The warehouse has two of the three. The third was out of stock last week, and the hospital's payment for the previous order is still ninety days overdue.
We advise on running the distribution business: stock levels, supplier terms, customer credit, collections, tender and rate-contract pricing and salesman routines. Product approvals, storage conditions and regulatory compliance rest with you, your pharmacist and the authorities, and we do not advise on them.
Discuss your priorities ↗COMMON CHALLENGES
The pressures
we often see.
- 01Fast-moving disposables run out while slow-moving implants sit in the warehouse, and the reorder decision depends on whoever remembers the last stock-out.
- 02Hospitals and clinics take extended credit, and the owner extends it further to keep the account, though nobody has set a limit for each customer.
- 03Rate contracts and tender prices are fixed for a period, while supplier prices move, and the margin on some lines quietly turns negative.
- 04Salesmen visit customers by habit, and the order book shows which accounts are neglected only at the end of the quarter.
- 05Expiry dates on stock are recorded at receipt and rarely checked again, so short-dated lots are found when the customer rejects them.
OUR FOCUS AREAS
Where the work
usually starts.
- 01Stock cover in days for the fifty fastest-moving items, with a minimum and a maximum level
- 02Credit limit and overdue amount for each hospital and clinic, reviewed before every new order
- 03Margin on each tender and rate-contract line, checked against the current supplier cost
- 04Receivable ageing by customer, with a named collector and a date for each call
- 05Salesman visit plan by account, with orders taken and orders lost by reason
- 06Short-dated stock list reviewed monthly, with a rule for returns to the supplier or markdown
- 07Supplier payment dates set against customer receipt dates, to see the cash gap
- 08Delivery vehicle loading and route, since a half-empty trip costs the same
START THIS WEEK
Things you can do
before you call anyone.
- List the ten customers with the largest overdue amounts. Beside each, write the oldest invoice date and the last time anyone spoke to them. Assign each a named caller.
- Hypothetical example: a catheter bought at ₹92 and sold at a contract price of ₹100 earns ₹8. If the supplier moves to ₹98, the margin is ₹2 before transport. Check your five largest contract lines.
- Count the stock-outs from last month for your twenty fastest items. For each one, write the lost order value if known. Set a minimum level for the worst five.
A PRACTICAL ENGAGEMENT
Start with the priorities
that matter most.
We begin by understanding how your business runs today, find the gaps, and agree the scope in writing. Recommendations are shaped around your team, your resources and your goals.
- A credit policy sheet with limit, days allowed and escalation steps for each customer class
- A stock reorder sheet with minimums, supplier lead times and expiry checks
- A margin check on rate-contract items, to be updated whenever a supplier changes price
- A weekly collections routine with ageing list, calls made and promises recorded
Not the right fit when: A drug-licence matter, a product recall or a legal dispute over a tender needs qualified professionals or the authorities first. A distributor that has not started trading has no receivables to chase.
Explore a business audit ↗LET’S MOVE YOUR BUSINESS FORWARD
