The Hospital District of SW Finland handles all material orders with the Abakus Order Management solution – excluding only medicines. Almost 2,000 users within the hospital district manage the product ordering process electronically with a web-based user interface, handheld devices and Voice technology.

“All orders, item usage and product inventories are handled with Abakus – quickly and easily – now we can concentrate on our actual work, nursing,” explains System Specialist Hanna Jääskeläinen, the Hospital District of SW Finland.

The Hospital District of Southwest Finland has implemented several solutions delivered by Optiscan: Abakus order management, voice picking in the warehouse and product identification with barcodes.

“Voice offers our users a possibility to keep their eyes focused on the on-going activity and work with hands free for moving and carrying the items. The solution guides you through your tasks, supports you and tells you what to do next. Voice has enhanced ergonomics in our warehouse, increased productivity and significantly diminished picking errors.”

Mika Leivo, Logistics Manager, Hospital District of SW Finland

Abakus Order Management

With Abakus it is possible to let the system create product or item orders automatically. Automated orders require that a responsible person has predefined product-specific margins to stock, and when there is only a certain amount of products left in the stock, the order is sent to the logistics center automatically.

An order can also be created manually either through the web-based user interface or with Android handhelds by using barcodes. The users, for example healthcare logistics specialists, are able to place an order in the Abakus system with Voice technology, which enables hands-free working in a warehouse. Ready-made customizable order templates reduce the workload when making orders manually. Every order can be saved as a template.

“With Abakus we have a productive, quick, easy-to-use and flawless ordering system,” emphasizes Outi Kalske, Purchase and Logistics Director in the Hospital District of SW Finland.

Department stocks in control

Usage of all products and items is registered in Abakus with the web user interface, with Android handhelds or with Voice. Stock is always precise and most importantly material expenses are correctly registered to the right user organization. Product information such as stock margins and balances is managed with the web user interface.

“Orders, usage and inventories are easy and fast, now we can concentrate on our actual work, nursing,” explains System Specialist Hanna Jääskeläinen, the Hospital District of SW Finland.

“With Abakus we can also see the department stock inventories in real time,” explains Mika Leivo, Logistics Manager, Hospital District of SW Finland.

“The integrated inventory tool helps us to manage inventory more efficiently than before and the number of errors is now close to zero,” continues Mika Leivo. “Abakus also assists us when following the floating assets tied up in our warehouses and department stocks.”

Material orders are entered in over 2,000 locations and they are channeled from the Abakus system through the hospital district’s ERP to the logistics center’s warehouse system for picking.

Development plans on the way

The Abakus system is on the way to be extended to platform tracking. At the logistics center, platforms are either trolleys or plastic boxes identified with unique barcodes. The used platform is scanned at the dispatcher area and when the platform arrives at the delivery address, it is scanned again.

“As we now know where exactly the platforms are, we can enhance the utilization rate and decrease the tied-up capital. In the future we can see whether the platforms are returned to the logistics center, and, if necessary, we can send an invoice afterwards,” says Mika Leivo.

Voice-directed solution

The voice-directed solution from Optiscan guides the users in their daily tasks and enables monitoring operations in real time. Material and information flows are managed efficiently with Voice.

“When our new logistics center was completed in 2009, we began to offer hospitals and healthcare centers, besides purchasing, also warehousing and delivery services,” explains Outi Kalske, Purchase and Logistics Director at the Hospital District of SW Finland.

More efficient support services with Voice

“When it comes to warehousing and deliveries it is extremely important that the systems and operations are reliable. To rationalize these processes we were the first Finnish healthcare district to implement a voice-directed system in our warehouse during spring 2012. The main objective for the voice-directed picking solution from Optiscan Oy was to enhance productivity. The goal was achieved by paperless picking and by updating the warehouse control system. Paperless picking is carried out with voice-directed technology that improves operations, enhances picking accuracy and enables batch picking, i.e. picking multiple orders at the same time,” explains Outi Kalske.

“Using the Pick-by-Voice solution offers the operator a possibility to focus their eyes on their actual work, picking, and working hands-free to handle the items. The system guides you through your tasks and tells you what to do. Voice improves the ergonomic conditions, enhances efficiency and significantly decreases picking errors,” describes Mika Leivo, Logistics Manager, Hospital District of SW Finland.

“Another objective is to save nurses’ valuable time and transfer the responsibility of the department stock item orders to the logistics service staff. Also, in the near future we have plans to deploy Voice to our department item logistics,” states Outi Kalske.

“If there is a shortage of the product or extra items are picked, this information is immediately transferred to the system and it also goes directly to the delivery documents and stock balance,” explains Leivo.

“We handle around 8,000 order lines per week. We have 14 employees in our warehouse and they all are trained to use Pick-by-Voice. Beforehand, Pick-by-Voice was presumed to be the most challenging part of the whole development project, but due to precise planning and scheming the deployment was easier than expected. The thorough testing and training phase was the key to success,” points out Mika Leivo.

The article is written by Eini Kettunen and was originally published in the magazine Sosiaali ja kuntatalous.

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