A Logistics Career: Where Agility Meets Strategy
The Excel Team: Nov 14, 2024 5:45:00 AM
Many people do not think of these two words together. Most often they probably think about healthcare and sometimes they may think about logistics. If you are reading this, you are one of us that do think about these two things together.
When it comes to healthcare I am sure the things that come to mind for most folks are visits to a doctor’s office or visits to a hospital. Or perhaps you might think of flu shots and test tubes of blood being drawn for analysis and being sent out to a lab. Maybe you think about going to the pharmacy to get your prescription filled. Probably the worst part of thinking about healthcare is your insurance.
On the other hand, when someone thinks of logistics they probably think of UPS or FedEx, Amazon, or maybe a medical courier. We can thank UPS for spending all those marketing dollars making logistics a word that people now think about. Perhaps folks think of trucks, trains, airplanes, and boats moving stuff all over the world. And now, we are hearing that soon there will be drones and robots and driverless vehicles delivering everything.
So, What is Healthcare Logistics?
I am here to tell you that healthcare and logistics go together like orange juice and sunshine…or peanut butter and jelly. When you are at the doctor’s office did you ever wonder how the furniture got there or the tongue depressors or the rubber gloves? When you get your flu shot did you ever wonder where it came from and how it got there? When you give blood do you think about how it gets to the lab? How about when you are at the pharmacy, do you wonder how all those medicines and bottles got on the shelf? The answer to all those questions is logistics.
Healthcare Logistics Includes Planes, Trains, Automobiles, and So Much More
Logistics is no simple thing and it is involved from the beginning to the end. Raw materials move from their origin to a production facility and then to a factory. Then from the factory, finished products move to on-demand warehousing or distribution centers. And then things need to be delivered to their final locations. All this can use every form of transportation from trucks to trains to boats to airplanes to temperature-controlled trucks to cars. I forgot to mention all the planning and organization that goes into all of this.
Choose Each Healthcare Logistics Provider Very Carefully
Healthcare logistics is complicated and costly. If you are someone that thinks about this, I hope that you also think about value versus cost. Far too often the cheapest option introduces a dangerous amount of risk. Personally, I would rather spend a little more money to know that the people I am counting on for my healthcare know what they are doing and are operating sustainable businesses. If you are looking for logistics help regarding what you do in healthcare look for a company that knows what they are doing and a team on which you can rely.
