Health logistics
Logistics partner for hospitals
First-class quality and reliability, as well as nursing staff who have more time for their patients.
Ambros Heinzmann
Head of Procurement & Supply Chain Management and member of the Operations Committee at the Hirslanden Private Hospital Group
Pressure on costs, increasing administrative workloads, low storage capacities and strict legal requirements: service providers in the healthcare sector are facing numerous challenges. Swiss Post as a logistics partner can ease some of the burden.
In many areas of the healthcare sector, the rule is zero tolerance: for a hospital, for example, it is essential that ordered goods arrive in perfect condition and exactly on time. Many medicines and medical consumables have to be stored and transported within a specific temperature range. A clear case for Swiss Post: thanks to its digital and logistics expertise, Swiss Post can offer sophisticated integrated solutions for the healthcare sector. Hospitals and clinics can outsource their entire logistics process to Swiss Post and concentrate on their own core competency – their work with their patients.
Example: Hirslanden Private Hospital Group
The healthcare sector is one of the largest growth markets, and one that holds a great deal of potential for Swiss Post. Health logistics is therefore a strategic focus for Swiss Post, with its investment in new services and infrastructures. Among Swiss Post’s largest customers in this field is the Hirslanden Private Hospital Group, which operates 17 clinics throughout Switzerland and has outsourced the logistics for all medical consumables to Swiss Post. To meet this challenge, Swiss Post has developed a dedicated logistics solution, reducing costs with a shared central warehouse, standardized processes and pooled orders – and taking the strain off hospital staff. To ensure that this service can be provided, Swiss Post has set up a central warehouse for pharmaceutical products, certified by Swissmedic, at the Villmergen logistics center. Swiss Post handles all aspects of logistics, from warehousing to picking and from packaging and transport to product returns.
Decentralized receipt, centralized delivery
The Hirslanden Group places orders with suppliers. The goods are then delivered to Villmergen, where they are stored. When a department in a hospital requires a particular product, the code is read with a scanner and sent to the Swiss Post ordering system. At the Villmergen logistics center, the ordered goods are then picked, packed into transport boxes in accordance with the distribution round and delivered to the hospital in question in trolleys.