Case Study: BD

BD Finds Flexible Order to Cash Solution Fits the Bill

BD, a global medical technology firm based in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey, develops and sells a broad range of health products for both consumer and clinical use. Due to planned changes in business processes, BD elected to transition one of its businesses to UPS to meet the needs of its customers.

Client Challenge

To meet the specialized needs of the majority of its distribution channels, BD upgraded the IT operating system of its supply network. Some of BD's products, including a line of consumer health products, required support beyond the new business processes. The company hired UPS to implement a distribution channel for the product line, tailored to the company's specifications.

"The UPS team was extremely responsive to our needs," said BD's Manager of Distribution Services Scott Baldwin. "They offered us an order to cash solution, with an emphasis on customer service and the flexibility to handle spikes and dips in volume."

Our Solution

UPS worked closely with BD to develop a project plan to ensure a smooth rollout for the order to cash network. Customer management associates dedicated to the BD account underwent training at the UPS customer call center in Newark, Delaware. The transition required transferring existing account data into the call center's system and shifting the product inventory from three BD distribution centers into a UPS distribution center in Hebron, Kentucky. The changeover was conducted during a weekend to ensure the system would be up and running the first business day with minimal service issues. "The UPS team was diligent and thorough," Baldwin said. "They thought of potential issues and resolved most of them in advance. And they did it all within a short timeframe."

Buyers for major national retail chains transmit orders to the BD dedicated line at the call center to place orders. The call center sends the information electronically to the UPS distribution center where the orders are picked, packed and shipped. All orders are shipped within 24 hours, and orders received before 2 p.m. are shipped the same day. The call center invoices customers on BD letterhead and collects payments, which are posted to a BD account.

"The business has been running smoothly and consistently with UPS," Baldwin said. "We are extremely pleased with the performance indicators for shipping accuracy and on-time delivery."

Shortly after implementing the solution for consumer health products, UPS expanded on the success and implemented a similar order to cash system for a line of BD hospital and clinical products.

UPS continually seeks to add value and enhancements to BD supply chain. When a major retailer wanted BD products re-packaged into smaller cases within two weeks, UPS was able to quickly fulfill the request and help BD win a contract for the new business. To tighten inventory control, UPS tailored a cycle count program to help identify and clear non-selling stock. Warehouse racking was reconfigured to accommodate new products and overflow inventory. To further improve customer satisfaction, UPS worked with BD to build multi-case orders into single boxes.

"The UPS team consistently recommends new ways to improve our supply chain processes," Baldwin said. "As a result, our customer satisfaction is high and we have experienced significant savings."

Looking to the Future

BD is now planning to launch an e-commerce Web site for the consumer health product line, backed by the UPS distribution network. "We know that we can count on UPS to continue to support us as our business needs evolve," Baldwin said.