Order processing cost calculator for medical distribution
Work out what manual handling of orders from hospitals and clinics costs: taking the order, retyping it into the ERP, checking it against the tender contract and delivery acceptance reports. The example is filled with a typical process - change the figures to yours and see the working hours and annual cost.
Where the time goes in medical distribution
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Orders in many formats
Hospitals and clinics send orders by email, fax, as PDFs or by phone. Each one has to be retyped into the ERP, and every wrong item code or quantity comes back later as a correction.
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Tender contract compliance
Prices, quantity limits and deadlines from the tender have to be checked on every order. Done by hand, this falls to the person with the highest rate in the process.
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Acceptance reports and the archive
Paper acceptance reports have to be scanned, labelled and found again for a complaint or an audit. At larger distributors the archive grows by tens of thousands of documents a year.
How we calculate
- Step cost: number of documents × minutes per document × hourly rate.
- Corrections: documents needing corrections × extra minutes × the average rate of your steps.
- Full-time staff: 160 working hours per month.
- Saving: process cost × your assumption. We do not state up front how much can be removed - that depends on the process and only comes out of an analysis.
The calculator leaves out paper, printing, archiving and the cost of delays, such as missed early-payment discounts. The real cost of a process is usually higher.
Frequently asked questions
Which medical distribution processes can I calculate?
Any repetitive process with a document: orders from hospitals and pharmacies, acceptance reports, delivery confirmations, corrections, complaints. You can change, add or remove the example steps.
Where do I get the figures?
The number of orders per month is in your ERP. Step times are easiest to measure on a few orders or to ask the order handling team about. An approximation is enough to see the order of magnitude.
How long does an electronic order workflow take to implement?
In the HAMMERmed project the first order form with its workflow was ready after about 2-3 months. The exact time depends on the number of forms and the ERP integration - we give it after analysing the process.
Is the data I enter sent anywhere?
No. The calculator runs in your browser and stores nothing on a server. The data reaches us only if you send the contact form yourself.
Let's talk about your project
Describe in a few sentences what you want to build or improve: an app, a platform, an integration or a process. We reply within one business day. The first call is an analysis, not a sales pitch.