Moore Medical: Business Issues.

One of the major dilemma facing Moore enterprise is the retention and acquisition of customers. The problem ranges from lack of customer loyalty, Moores inability to have a good customer relation, and provide all the necessary medical needs of some customers. Moore lose some major customers that make bulk purchases and would like to make all their purchases at one sales or from supplier, and Moore supplies only podiatrist and medical products, which a fraction of the approximately half a million products still available in the marketplace. Another major issue is the availability of fund. Presently, Moore are making loses from their business and having a high account payable, which is increasing on a yearly basis. This implies that most of their funds are tied to outsiders and little more to overstocking (large inventory size). Furthermore, another stumbling block to Moores progress is the intense competitor in the industry. The competition rate results in price cuts and drop in margin. Moore did not only compete large firms like Schein and PS&S, who serves numerous other markets, but also competes with a cluster of smaller companies. In addition, another major reason why Moore is underperforming and making consistent loses is the decision to discontinue the wholesale pharmaceutical segment, which accounted for 60% of their profit/revenue in 1997. But their competitors heavily invested in technology (e.g. hand-held ordering devices for pharmacies) instead of shutting it down. Moores competitors also invested in warehouse infrastructure in order to drive down operating costs and increase customer services. Another issue is the split shipment costs, which Moore bears alone. Moore enterprise are presently experiencing a high cost of operation, and should transfer some of the cost of the split shipment to its customers.