Twice weekly wholesale ordering

RE: Twice weekly wholesale ordering

Dove — Wed, 16 Dec 2020 11:10:44 GMT

I totally agree with you Sal, the beauty of daily ordering means you don't need stock sitting around to expire. We also have a bunch of heart dogs that always seem to need meds at the same time.

RE: Twice weekly wholesale ordering

Sal the 1st — Wed, 16 Dec 2020 00:28:28 GMT

we had this during the first lock down with covetrus. Honestly it was a nightmare. There is no way on earth you can predict what you will or won't use for 2 or 3 days at a time. All you need is for a couple of people to forget to order their meds and you are absolutely stuffed. I was rationing heart meds at one bit because 1 client got the wind up and ordered 3 months of meds which was ok'd and dispensed and then sods law came into play and virtually every bloody heart case in the practice (or that is how it seemed) needed meds. I had just about run out on the Friday and my next delivery wasn't due till the Tuesday. Insulin supply was even scarier. 'Emergency' flea and wormers - have never sold so much of the stuff in my life it was nearly always spoken for before it even came off the van and I was ordering 3-4 times my normal amount. Eye drops and ointments similar tale. If you aren't careful stock shortages fuel the panic buying because people then start to worry they wont be able to get what they need so easily and take as much as they can get/afford.

Agree with Apache there is a good chance you will end up with dead money on the shelves ie I usually keep just a single optimmune on the shelves. We have one regular that always orders with plenty of notice and I always replace as soon as he collects - so that single tube is generally sufficient in case it should need to be dispensed to a new case (and lets face it you dont want too many of them on the shelf , they don't get used everyday and they are really expensive). the days of weekly and twice weekly orders are long gone. People want their stuff yesterday, they don't do waiting anymore if they cant get what they want when they want it they go somewhere else

RE: Twice weekly wholesale ordering

Dove — Fri, 11 Dec 2020 08:47:35 GMT

This is the decision of our corporate. I don't see it working either. We usually have our stock levels just right and have the benefit of getting it in the next day. They are going to set our min/max levels for us too and tell us how much stock we should keep.

I've worked in a practice before that tried this, but it was a 1 vet practice, this is a busy 5 vet practice.

RE: Twice weekly wholesale ordering

apache — Fri, 11 Dec 2020 00:47:48 GMT

Why?

The only reason I would entertain it would be a significant saving in terms of better wholesaler discount. As it stands I can spent £5000 or order 1 tube of Isothal and I get it next day. A lot of less frequently used meds I don't even keep on the shelf and ask for 24 hours notice. From a business POV there is nothing better than having the money in the bank for something that never even sat on my shelf.

We're a mixed practice and I don't see it working.