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Flashpoint Medical Systems has been using HandiFox Online for almost three years now. Having been born out of a garage, the business grew into one of the leading providers of emergency medical supplies and training equipment in Ireland. Here’s the story of their growth over the last 16 years and the role of the HandiFox inventory software in it.
How did Flashpoint Medical Systems start?
The business was started in 2008 by a former firefighter and soon-to-be advanced paramedic Ken O’Dwyer. As the National Standard for First Aid Training was to change to include AED training, Ken discovered an opening in the market for CPR masks and automated external defibrillator trainers.
“I started with 2 products selling from my garage, and now we have 2000 products.”
Ken O’Dwyer, Managing Director
So Ken set out on a mission to ensure an efficient and Brexit-proven supply of medical goods to Irish responders of all levels. This prompted the need to source and hand-pick the best products directly from the manufacturers. At the time, most of the manufacturers were based in China, so keeping an eye on stock with long lead times presented a challenge.
On the search for optimization
“We needed a way to track products to ensure they were replenished on time so we can dispatch the next day to our customers”.
With most of the manufacturers overseas, Flashpoint Medical Systems had to tighten its grip on the purchasing and replenishment processes to stabilize and achieve optimal stock levels. Also, having an accurate picture of what was on hand, on purchase or sales orders was critical to improving their responsiveness towards a growing inflow of orders. In addition, the newly imposed medical regulations meant they had to maintain a register of all lots, serials, and expiry dates.
As Ken started looking for an inventory app, he knew exactly what he was expecting it to provide:
- On-time ordering
- Granular visibility into inventory levels at all times
- Tracking of lot-, serial-numbered products, and their expiry dates
- Automated replenishment
- Accurate and speedy dispatch of orders
Getting things done with HandiFox Online
“Handifox offered these solutions at an affordable price”.
Flashpoint Medical Systems opted for HandiFox Online in the August of 2021. Since then, their day-to-day tasks have been addressed with the help of these features:
- Lot and expiry date tracking for regulatory purposes
- Automatic Replenishment to restock critical items
- Counting sessions for more accurate and consistent inventory management
- Barcoding to speed up data entry and search
- Pick and pack lists to manage shipping more efficiently and ensure backorders are not lost or overlooked
Key benefits
Over the last three years, Flashpoint Medical Systems have experienced some game-changing effects of automated inventory management:
- Being well-prepared for regulatory audits thanks to the lot-number tracking functionality
- Saving time and human resources thanks to the automated inventory, purchasing, and order fulfillment processes
- Always replenishing on time
“We are constantly learning and finding features that aid us to ensure the business runs smoothly. If we cannot find a solution, the Handifox team advises on workarounds or update the software. No one else offered this level of customer service.”
Flashpoint Medical Systems set out to automate their replenishment but ended up automating everything else. Start small but think big - HandiFox will aid you every step of the way.
