Centralizing Order Management Improves Response Time, User Experience, and Efficiency

Challenge

A Fortune 500 pharmaceutical company recognized the value of having a single-channel strategy with regards to lab supplies and was looking to revamp its procurement system to help improve their internal user experience. The initial rollout of the program caused end-user adoption issues as well as created a backlog with the internal requisition management team (RMT). While the RMT staff worked hard to keep up with the new demands, end users were experiencing longer response times and delays in the approval flow of their requisitions, thereby prolonging the lead time for receipts of the items they needed. Consequently, the rate of research and progress suffered because of this issue.

The company knew what was needed, but how could they effectively implement their ideal process?

Solution

The company looked to VWR to provide an efficient, end-user friendly, and value adding process for its non-catalog lab commodity needs and standard catalog items. The Avantor Services MarketSource Procurement & Sourcing Services group created a team of buyers who would function within the customer’s procurement system and would manage requisitions, engage with end users, and effectively act as an extension of the company’s procurement arm. End users who provided requisitions received responses quickly, while Avantor Services additionally managed the vendor relationships, determined customer specific pricing, item availability, and followed several customer-driving SOPs. The team then retooled vendor setups, a process which was laborious in the customer’s previous system.

The Avantor Services MarketSource team also helped realign the growing backlog situation to one that would mutually benefit the procurement and sourcing organizations, the RMT associates, and the end-user community. Additionally, the Avantor Services team provided a point of continuity for the end users and assisted step-by-step as the new system was rolled out to additional branches around the world.

Result

With well-established service levels and measurable performance, Avantor Services met the company’s expectations for the services being provided, by:

• Improving end user productivity with a one-stop shopping experience for lab supplies
• Establishing dedicated buyers country-by-country with whom end users have frequent contact and existing relationships
• Implementing a new procurement system that improved response time for third-party requests by 80%
• Achieving an 86% decrease in vendor creation time

Given the success of the program and implementation of the revamped procurement system process, the company has expanded its integration with VWR, as non-catalog services for lab supplies now reach nearly a dozen countries, numerous business units, and thousands of end-users.