IN THIS ISSUE:

VISION

To be THE LEADER in providing logistics solutions and specialty services to the healthcare sector

2011 - Off To The Races!

2011 has been an exciting year already, and Q2 is in full swing!  Change is everywhere for healthcare in general - manufacturers, distributors, pharmacies, retailers  - with change not just "in the wind" but coming at all of us with gale force!

Governments, buying groups, consumers and industry groups have all started to take a keen interest in supply chain and distribution costs, spawning lots of discussion and initiatives around new and different models.  The big gains in supply chain won't come from doing the same things at lower cost, but by doing things completely differently and eliminating entire cost components.

"If you don't like change, you're going to like irrelevance even less"

Mergers & Acquisition

Industry consolidation is a newsmaker and directly impacts many of our clients have been acquired or acquisitors. Some of our clients were acquired and moved in with their new owners, some gained new foreign parents and distribution in Canada remained status quo, while others acquired businesses and brought them into our facilities.

We also made an acquisition of our own with the purchase of Nova Pack (www.novapk.com) (http://www.accuristix.com/images/pdf/acc_nova_release-en.pdf  ) a contract packaging and reverse logistics business specializing in servicing healthcare manufacturers (Rx, OTC, HABA),  a perfect complement to our pre-existing re-pack/co-pack business.

MISSION

Partnering with our healthcare clients to MEET THEIR CUSTOMER'S NEEDS through excellence and innovation

Greening The Supply Chain

A new reusable cold-chain container service offering and several facility improvements are among the "Sustainability/Green" initiatives completed recently.

Let Cooler Heads Prevail

Manufacturers, QA departments, hospitals, retailers, sales representatives, carriers and distributors, all find Styrofoam coolers and gel-packs expensive, inefficient and frustrating to dispose of responsibly.

Working with Minnesota Thermal Science (MTS - www.mnthermalscience.com) and partnering with ATS for reverse logistics, we've delivered a returnable cold-chain closed-loop system based on MTS' "CREDO" technologically advanced Phase Change cold chain container.  Validation is concluding and pilot projects are underway.  Not only does this eliminate substantial waste from single use styrofoam containers and gel packs, but it also extends the "within spec" shipping window from 24-48 hours to more than 96 hours at much better tolerance than conventional gel-packs with no temperature shocks, allowing two things previously unheard of for cold chain - shipping over a week-end and shipping long distance by ground vs. air - another significant cost saving.  This "game changer" technology delivers much better results at a lower cost while benefitting the environment!

Let There Be (More) Light

Working with our landlords and property managers, we've been retro-fitting our buildings with the latest in efficient lighting technology, replacing the HPS (high pressure sodium) lighting used in most warehouses, with energy efficient, high output motion sensor T5 and T8 fixtures.  Similar to the cooler technology above, this is a great example of improved performance (much brighter!) lower heat generation and cost savings combined with environmental benefits.
 

Heading East and West

We're pleased to welcome two new members to our Business Development Team; Harry Stobbe (based in Vancouver and operating from our recently-opened Delta facility); and François Lachaine (based in Montreal). Both come to us with great depth in logistics and health care (http://www.accuristix.com/images/pdf/Press-Release-Business-Development.pdf).

Putting Customers First

There is nothing better than having Accuristix associates recognized by our clients as having gone above and beyond in providing exceptional service and 'making the right call.'

 "On behalf of the Quality Operations group, we would like to say THANK YOU! We greatly appreciate all of the hard work, your continued support and for helping ensure the quality of EMD Serono's products." - Quality Operations,  EMD Serono (Canada)

"I wanted to take a minute to acknowledge the outstanding work your shipping team did yesterday. Since I've been here I've never seen so many orders and of such large volume. The fact that you were able to process and ship them all the same day is just fantastic! Thank you for all of your hard work." Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals Canada Inc.

"Thank you all so much for your hospitality yesterday.  It was a very successful and productive meeting.  Our customer left with a very favourable impression of Accuristix. They commented on your level of competence, knowledge and most of all your candidness and willingness to share your experience during the many other integrations at Accuristix.  I look forward to finally having an interface that will make our operations with Accuristix even more efficient in the future."
Cobalt Pharmaceuticals

Charity Sale

We're really proud of our staff's
fund-raising efforts on their own, independent of our corporate support ofvarious charities.  Thanks to staff volunteers donating their time, and to our clients for donating their products, more than $20,000 was raised at our annual Holiday sale and donated to Look Good Feel Better, Sick Kids' Hospital, Canadian Cancer Society, Oakville Humane Society, and the Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation.    

Outsourcing 2.0

At the recent International Warehouse Logistics Association conference (www.iwla.com,), I had the opportunity to talk to Kate Vitasek, author of "Vested Outsourcing  - Five Rules that Will Transform Outsourcing".  Her keynote address to the association covered her outsourcing experiences at Microsoft, Stream International, case studies of Sprint, IBM, Jaguar, and University of Tennessee and U.S. Air Force research studies.  Through these and other successful (and failed) outsourcing case studies, she's developed and clearly articulated a blueprint for moving outsourcing relationships from "transactional" through preferred supplier, to partnership, to true strategic alliance, which produces innovative, improved service and increased profitability for both the company outsourcing and the outsource provider.  With many of our clients who consider us a partner, we often talk about getting to "the next level."  Kate has not only defined the next level but provided a map on how to get there including the "Here there be dragons" pitfalls to watch out for.  I would be happy to send you a copy of the book if you're interested - click here     
 

Help Yourself

A feature of our Phoenix system is the "self-serve logistics" aspect of inventory visibility, order status, report generation, etc.  In spite of all the integration we have with most clients (EDI, FTP, web-order entry, etc.), we still receive a surprising number of orders via fax or text email.  Our internal debate is that on one level, re-keying these orders is providing service to customers who choose not to enter the orders themselves via the web order entry.  On the other hand, someone is already keying it (to create the fax or email) and our CSR's re-keying merely introduces the opportunity for misinterpretation, data entry error and delay.  By keying direct to the web OMS, it is instant, accurate and has built-in checks and balances and acknowledgement.

Regards,

Cameron Joyce
President

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