Logistics consolidation work continues with successful Austin Health trial

HSV’s work to consolidate health service logistics activities continues to progress with a trial service to Austin Health now in its fourth month.

Procurement and Supply Director at Austin Health, Matthew Smith, says the level of service provided by HSV so far during the six-month trial has been seamless.

The initial stage of the trial included 22 product lines or SKUs and 970 units have been shipped since May 2024.

“The ordering has been effortless as you’d expect with such a limited range of products and we’re getting good support from HSV on documentation, deliveries and any additional requirements,” Matthew says.

As the trial progresses, Matthew says he expects to see additional benefits including a more efficient supply chain with less administration.

“We’re looking to reduce the number of vendors, purchase orders and deliveries we receive, and we will be tracking and measuring this as the trial expands to include more product lines.

This will mean our purchasing team is no longer dealing with such a high number of vendors, which will be more manageable for us.”

Acting Chief Logistics Officer Alan Booth says HSV is working closely with Austin Health to ensure everything runs smoothly as the service expands later this year.

“The trial has demonstrated the value that can be unlocked by working collaboratively. Over the coming months we will continue to engage with the Austin team to identify and realise further savings opportunities.”

Matthew says he’s appreciative of the team’s efforts to proactively investigate further benefits.

“The HSV Logistics team has been incredibly supportive throughout the planning of the trial and has already come to us with further areas of spend to review. They continue to pursue avenues of value for us including cost savings, which we appreciate. 

It’s good that they’re continuing to push for extra benefits, and we look forward to working with them to improve the service for other health services.”

Meanwhile, the Logistics team continues to work on the Monash Health consolidation project, which is due to go live in October 2024.

The first new team members have commenced at our Dandenong South distribution centre (DC) as stock deliveries arrive in preparation for Monash Health going live. 

The Dandenong South DC will service Monash Health initially and expand its service as more health services come on board. It will be fully commissioned by the end of September 2024 with 13 full-time employees.