There is more than one ‘I’ in a good Supply Chain IT project

Bob Taylor, SVP Supply Chain, RWJBarnabas Health

“With myriad responsibilities, the supply chain requires a number of different technologies to be effective and efficient in the parent organization’s support.”

Over time Supply Chain in Health Care has evolved from much more than just a back-office function to one that is critical to the success and strategy of most hospitals and healthcare systems. The supply chain is intertwined and connected to virtually all aspects of healthcare operations. From Contracting to Purchasing, to product evaluation and selection, and the logistics function to make sure everything gets where it is supposed to be when needed, it touches virtually every part of a healthcare entity. It is critical that the supply chain IT infrastructure is well thought out and well-integrated into the organization to maximize value and minimize disruption and cost. With myriad responsibilities, the supply chain requires a number of different technologies to be effective and efficient to support the parent organization.

When evaluating the need to add or augment technologies to support the supply chain within the healthcare system, it is critical that this not be done in a silo but done in a manner that ensures that the target solution will not only deliver the desired results but also work well with the existing infrastructure. To do this, I think it is important to recognize that there are many “I’s” that are required for a successful supply chain IT project.

Identify

It is critical to identify and clearly define any unmet need within the supply chain and how the organization will benefit by meeting the need.Any cost that is incurred must exceed the benefit that is realized. Too frequently, a good and clear needs analysis is not conducted properly. This may result in the identification and implementation of a solution that, while may in and of itself be a great solution, is not the best for the identified need and may not adequately meet the identified need.

Inventory

An inventory should be conducted as to what systems are currently available to the supply chain and the organization to ensure that there is no available solution that is unused or latent in the organization. Frequently software solutions are acquired, but the full capability and ability of the solution is not implemented. Actively reviewing already available resources may identify solutions available at no or minimal additional cost and with less effort if they are already part of, and integrated into, the organization.

Ideate

Immediately before trying to determine what software or technology solutions may be available outside of the organization, it may be helpful to brainstorm different ways that the identified need can be met either through a process change or some other means that does not require additional technology or cost to the organization. Frequently there are changes that can be made that can address the identified need with the resources already available. Rather than alternating a bad process, it is generally better to first improve and fix the process to function well.

Investigate

If after performing an inventory and going through a brainstorming session, it is determined that there is no current technology solution or process change that can address the unmet need. The next step would be to investigate what options may be available. Too frequently, we immediately gravitate towards a single solution that we may have mentally preselected rather than working through the rigor and diligence of evaluating and contrasting all of the available options to determine which is the best.

Involve

Because the supply chain does not operate in a stand-alone or siloed environment, it is important to involve others from the organization who will be impacted by or contribute to its success. A high functioning organization should ensure that all stakeholders are included in the evaluation and design of an integrated solution as it will lead to a better outcome for the individual departments and the organization.

Integrate

When implementing a new technology solution in the supply chain, better outcomes are generally realized by integrating and interfacing the solution rather than implementing it as a stand-alone environment. While this will require more time and more resources upfront, the long-term benefit and value will be realized many times over.

Implement

When implementing a new solution, it is important that we do not simply try to mold the new solution to our current processes but instead optimize our processes to work with the new solution. In many cases, new solutions are implemented to ‘look like what we have’ rather than to determine how to use the solution to its greatest potential the way it was designed. The solution should be implemented to maximize the benefit.

Test

At last, we get to the ‘T’ in IT.  One aspect of a solution implementation that is not frequently performed is to test to ensure that the final implemented solution meets and addresses the originally identified need. If it does not, then it is important to figure out what adjustments can be made so that the identified need becomes met and is not allowed to remain unresolved.

As Supply Chain becomes more critical and more integrated into all aspects of hospitals and health systems, it is important to ensure that enabling solutions are evaluated in the context of the overall organization and that the solutions address needs to optimize the whole. This system-level approach helps ensure that solutions don’t address only Supply Chain needs while sub-optimizing the organization as a whole. Focusing on the many “I’s” in IT will help prevent this from occurring.