Diverse Group Leverages Data-Rich Solutions to Advance Productivity, Enhance Customer Service And Provision Growth
An unlikely pairing—a medical supplies provider and a workspace productivity company—have a critical asset in common: both rely on Epicor Kinetic to keep their businesses running smarter. Jackson Allison Medical & Surgical Ltd. is a part of a larger corporate group, and all four companies in the group have deployed Epicor Kinetic. The industry-tailored, cognitive ERP solution is helping Jackson Allison grow in challenging economic headwinds and drive significant operational efficiencies.
A substantial purveyor of medical supplies and equipment, Jackson Allison serves hospitals and clinics across New Zealand. The company specializes in sourcing and supplying single-use consumables such as face masks and clinical apparel, urology and continence supplies, wound care items, anesthesia and surgical instruments and more—from four locations nationwide. Jackson Allison needed to move from a basic ERP to a full-bodied solution to be more competitive.
Paul Hurtley, CFO at Jackson Allison, recalled, “One of our other companies, Europlan, needed an ERP system and after careful evaluation, we selected Epicor Kinetic. We liked what we saw and rolled it out across all four companies.”
He added, “What stood out to me is how forward-thinking Epicor is. They are always looking to improve the solution. Many years ago, they had no representation in New Zealand, but they were ready to make that happen which impressed me.”
In addition to a tough economic climate, the New Zealand healthcare system is undergoing substantial reform, creating new challenges in understanding and meeting evolving requirements. Furthermore, Jackson Allison faces continuing issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic. “Supply chain remains a problem, especially for products coming out of Europe, and there have been associated price increases to navigate,” Hurtley acknowledged. “Epicor Kinetic offers great reporting capabilities that enabled us to easily and quickly provide information to the government to get those increases approved.”
Moreover, reporting is even more essential because New Zealand is so remote. Hurtley stated, “Our on-time, in-full (OTIF) metric is critical for our customers, so they know when to expect orders. Epicor allows us to create various reports to meet our customers’ needs and measure those metrics across the group.”
Each of the four businesses runs daily purchase order suggestions to predict inventory needs better. They also utilize detailed daily sales reports to align the team with targets and make required adjustments early. “Everyone sees data, including actuals versus budget and inventory levels. It helps everyone know where to focus their efforts and how to do their jobs better,” Hurtley elaborated.
Epicor reporting makes it easy to stay ahead of the game, anticipating issues, minimizing back orders and preserving margins. It bolsters day-to-day management.
Jackson Allison also collects information from third parties, such as purchasing forecasts from hospitals, which is fed into Epicor and helps to enable the company to manage stock and inform replenishment strategies effectively. Hurtley emphasized, “Epicor reporting makes it easy to stay ahead of the game, anticipating issues, minimizing back orders and preserving margins. It bolsters day-to-day management.”
To amplify the benefits of Epicor Kinetic, Hurtley participated in an Epicor Value Exchange Workshop (VEW) focused on business process improvements for both Jackson Allison and Europlan.
We examined inefficient processes, and Epicor consultants shared recommendations and best practices, which delivered massive efficiency improvements. We rolled out many of those enhancements to the other companies. The VEW was brilliant.
“We examined inefficient processes, and Epicor consultants shared recommendations and best practices which delivered massive efficiency improvements,” Hurtley disclosed. “We rolled out many of those enhancements to the other companies. The VEW was brilliant.”
As an example, the interface between customer service and the warehouse had been manual, requiring staff to print packing slips and walk them over. Hurtley noted, “As a result of the VEW, we digitized and automated that process. Now, everyone has a screen with the same information. The item turns red if not picked up within the prescribed time.”
Another efficiency boost has been Epicor Product Configurator. Lymphedema products are incredibly complex, with approximately three million possible configurations to meet unique patient anatomies. As such, requisitioning that product required time-consuming manual measurements. “It would take roughly a day to order the right product,” Hurtley admitted. “With Epicor Product Configurator, we cut that down to just an hour, which is a huge time savings. Plus, it improved sales order and PO accuracy.”
In fact, Product Configurator has been so revolutionary for Jackson Allison, that the lymphedema product supplier, impressed with its capabilities, has adopted it to improve its own processes.
Jackson Allison’s commitment to innovation is evident in the company’s ongoing focus on investing in technology to optimize operations and enhance customer service. The initiative to deploy Epicor Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) is underway. Hurtley projected, “Epicor EDI will give us a competitive advantage by improving the customer experience and reducing costs. We plan to roll it out to our customers and the other companies in the group.”
Hurtley will also implement Epicor Mobile Warehouse in Q1 2025, coinciding with a site move. Today, Jackson Allison is utilizing third-party warehouses to accommodate inventory, a situation that makes stock management complicated, prompting the company to move to a larger facility. “We’ll deploy Epicor Mobile Warehouse, allowing us to execute a barcode system to facilitate accurate location control, stock rotation and tracking of product information such as expiration dates,” Hurtley described. Moving from a manual to an automated inventory management system will improve on-time delivery and mitigate costs by shifting the burden of inventory control from staff to technology.
In a growth-constrained country, Jackson Allison reported an impressive 20%+ growth rate last year, not including PPE. Hurtley highlighted, “With Epicor, we keep pace with growth without adding headcount in backroom staff, such as purchasing and the warehouse. Instead, we can invest in customer-facing employees to drive sales and upgrade the customer experience.”
With Epicor, we keep pace with growth without adding headcount in backroom staff, such as purchasing and the warehouse. Instead, we can invest in customer-facing employees to drive sales and upgrade the customer experience.
That position makes Jackson Allison attractive to prospective buyers. Hurtley shared that the company is for sale: “Epicor has helped provide hundreds of reports about the company's health, and prospective buyers have been impressed with our reporting capabilities. Additionally, our bank rates our reporting as excellent.”
Finally, an unexpected but welcome Epicor benefit has been a noticeable surge in enthusiasm for exploring possibilities. Hurtley emphasized, “When we first implemented Epicor, there was natural resistance to change. Now that people see the potential, they propose new ideas. They are embracing change.”
