Dear Friends,

Sometimes, opportunity knocks in the most unusual or unsuspecting places - especially in an industry that has undergone very little change for quite some time. Because of this, we naturally assume that there aren't any untapped or unknown supply chain value opportunities. This assumption however, is arguably not true. There is one very unique opportunity that has almost exclusively been accessed by distributors; and they have relied heavily on the bottom line contributions derived from this source for a long time.

For this and other protective reasons, the opportunity can be very well "guarded" in terms of industry wide knowledge. In fact, some organizations have built company strategies and associated objectives around keeping the opportunity viable which in many instances requires it to also be kept quiet. If you don't know about it, don't worry, you're not alone; but the times are changing........

With the increasing interest in self distribution, IDNs and larger hospital Systems are discovering more about the value streams that have typically been offered to distributors. Alternate Sourcing is one of these value streams. It is a practice that has been around for at least 20 years and it has provided distributors with very real value.

In this edition, we highlight the elements of alternative sourcing hopefully in ways that will help you develop a company policy or strategy that helps keep your supply pipeline safe and your product costs down.

Sincerely,

National Medical Logistics