Improving Storage

& Inventory for

Supply Chain at
Community Clinic
Serge Rosiles
Issue
The current state of storage and inventory management at the
Community Clinic is at risk due to an antiquated ecosystem of
organization and planning. Systems that require improvements create
a lagging storage situation that negatively impacts the clinic’s overall
performance, efficiency, and finances. The reality of the storage issue
does not reflect the goals, aspirations, or outcomes that define Fenway
Health’s model of success for the present future.
Importance of
Improvements
• Improve patient outcome: critical medical procedures and daily operations
depend on improved storage and inventory solutions
• Clinical Operations: Reducing errors in inventory management and planning;
accurate inventory tracking allows for necessary supplies during emergency
(Operating Room) situations
• Reduced Costs: reduces waste and overstocking, a common issue, as well as
reducing costly, inefficient employee tasks
• Resource Utilization Efficiency: Promotes efficient distribution and effective use
of supplies available; prevents unnecessary storage shortages or oversupply
• Compliance: Mandatory regulatory compliance is required by law by state and
board requirements to maintain practicing licenses of the health center
Key Factors
• Fenway Health, as a small-run organization, has not yet implemented
effectively structured storage and inventory protocol
• Staff regularly report supplies and are otherwise regularly documented as
missing, lost, stolen, or unavailable when needed
• An increase in demand for some services requires the storage systems to
be updated
• Storage facilities do not meet storage, inventory, and staff requirements
presently
Acknowledging
Challenges
• Workflow Disruptions: Employees will lose access to processes they are
accustomed to doing. Work is slowed during required training on the new system.
• Spacing Limits: This clinic has limited space any change risks limiting space further.
• Managing Costs: Technology, training, hiring of storage engineers, new materials,
and construction of modified spaces require investment to be considered.
• Staff Dissent: Any disagreement with staff on the proposed change should be
identified and resolved early on to prevent a growing challenge.
• Compliance: Any improvement cannot risk creating or continuing any temporary or
permanent regulatory non-compliance.
• Patient Outcome: The effectiveness of patients outcomes can be temporarily
altered due to the temporary changes.
Recognizing
Opportunities
• Workflow Improvement: Errors during emergent situations, lost items, special
requests for items are eliminated therefore improving employee efficiency.
• Space Efficiency: Creating efficient spaces that utilize space to its maximum ability.
• Costs Savings: Costs are reduced by reducing waste, improving productivity, and
reducing the loss from overstocking and hoarding items
• Staff Alignment: Improving staff morale by reducing stress levels and unnecessary
tasks to access items.
• Compliance: Reducing compliance penalties and effectively improving safety-related
regulation protocol compliance.
• Patient Outcome: Patients receive more uninterrupted care, shorter wait times for
items, more self-efficacious, available staff, and fewer errors.
Issue/Problem Projection
As has been documented, the organization's problems will not go away. It is important
to take corrective action as issues become larger.

• Significant inventory loss leading to overordering, shrink, expiration, and wastage

• Organizational reputation is permanently altered
• Lack of space for incoming inventory
• Reduction in employee morale leading to quitting
• Compliance issues lead to the forced closure of operations immediately

If these issues persist as they do now, the organization could face irreparable financial,
reputational, and efficiency damages in the foreseeable years ahead.
Alternative Solutions
• Tag inventory properly to improve accuracy
• Organize inventory neatly so that it is easy to find and access
• Use real time tools such as barcode scanning to inventory
• Use inventory management software that provides transaction
history for all items
• Use a third-party logistics provider (3PL) to manage inventory

WSInc.com
Recommendations
• Reconstruct storage space for efficiency
• New inventory management for organizing and technology
• Revise supply availability to two-bin Kanban inventory system
• Utilize accurate forecasting for financial and operational success
• Procurement requires evidence-based, data-driven decision-making
• Significant Investment: to ensure successful follow-through of the
project
• C-Suite Support: with the support of top executives, they will be able to
navigate challenges and disagreements together to create a completed
project
Recommendations
• Reconstruct storage space: Create new areas reducing waste by removing unnecessary
sinks and immobile storage. Hire a storage engineer to design floorplans and mobile storage
shelving for appropriately sized bins.
• New inventory management: This solution offers the ability to improve technologies.
• Revise supply availability to the two-bin Kanban inventory system, refer to successful cases
at other hospitals, ensure FIFO method
• Utilize accurate forecasting: Can be determined more accurately because of the waste
reduction. This creates forecasting that can always predict enough to always be under the
budget enabled by the new inventory management capabilities
• Staff training: material handlers and nursing, among others, will need direct access for
inventory counts and daily access. This will require extensive training that enables employees
to enact the new system’s rules. This includes nurses and other staff placing bins when empty
and full and finding items using an item list when necessary. For material handlers, this
requires training on using smart cabinets, smart, wand, and FIFO.
 Kanban Two-Bin System

https://youtu.be/XCrypZv4HBg Southwest Solutions

 Inventory
Management
Solutions

Cardinal Health
Cardinal Health
Citations:
Cardinal Health. (2015). 10 Barriers to Effective Inventory Management.
Nyaga, G. (2023, February). Inventory and Distribution Management . SCHM 6223:
Managing Healthcare Supply Operations. Boston. Retrieved February 1, 2023, from
https://www.coursera.org/learn/schm6223-managing-healthcare-supply-chain-
operations/home/week/5.
The importance of maintaining inventory accuracy - WSI. WSI (Warehouse Specialists, LLC). (2022,
September 30). Retrieved February 5, 2023, from https:// www.wsinc.com/the-importance-of-
maintaining-inventory-accuracy/
RFID Kanban 2-bin basket hospital par inventory management . Increase Productivity With Space -
Efficient Storage Solutions. (2022, December 22). Retrieved February 5, 2023, from
https://www.southwestsolutions.com /ssg/healthcare/rfid-kanban-2-bin-basket-hospital-par-
inventory-management/
Rheude, J. (2022, November 3). 5 ways to improve inventory management . Red Stag Fulfillment.
Retrieved February 5, 2023, from https:// redstagfulfillment.com/5-ways-improve-inventory-
management/
YouTube. (2012, July 12). Two Bin Supply System at St Clair Hospital. YouTube. Retrieved February
25, 2023, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjSwwPF5BUU