Improving material flows, developing strategies for managing requirements and working out individual solutions for production supplies is the goal of the series of events entitled "Discussions in the Lecture Hall Ruin"; the second round was held at the Charité Hospital in Berlin on Thursday. About 30 production managers, supply chain managers, purchasers and sales representatives operating in the field of medical engineering exchanged ideas with logistics experts and participants from other sectors on the subject of "Supply chain management as innovation potential in medical engineering" ; this was the follow-up meeting of the management workshop, which was launched last year.

The focus of the chaired discussion sessions, which the logistics services provider Rhenus and FABRIKtester, specialists in process optimisation, organised, was once again an exchange of experiences related to practical situations. The production supplies and the associated supplier relations were critically examined, and solutions were discussed to enable companies to handle the complexity of processes in an even better way.

"Material procurement lies in the area of conflict between the interests of raw material providers and suppliers, on the one hand, and the requirements of medical engineering manufacturers, on the other hand; the latter wish to improve their production processes and material flows. A logistics services provider can act as an intermediary between these worlds," said FABRIKtester Tobias Zorn, who chaired the occasion.

Participants from the field of medical engineering and non-specialist managers described their efforts and successes at improving purchasing conditions, material flows and supply reliability during the course of the workshop.  

"As logistics services providers, we have to gradually gain the confidence of customers, particularly in the sensitive field of medical engineering. Cooperation may take the form of an order for no more than warehousing services or even full integration by the logistics services provider in the manufacturer's flow of goods chain with just-in-time deliveries," said Heiko Nowak, Managing Director of Rhenus Contract Logistics West, summarising the range of options.

An important element in the series of events is to give participants a broader view of their own field: as a result, sectors unrelated to medicine like high-class catering were the subject of a comparative study during the experts' discussions in order to illustrate the complexity of supply chains.

The organisers once again donated the participants' fees for the workshop to the SONNENHOF children's hospice run by the Björn Schulz FOUNDATION in Berlin.

About Rhenus
The Rhenus Group provides logistics services around the globe and has annual turnover amounting to EUR 3.4 billion. Rhenus employs more than 19,000 people at more than 290 locations worldwide. The Rhenus business areas - Contract Logistics, Freight Logistics, Port Logistics and Public Transport - manage complex supply chains and provide a wealth of innovative value-added services.

About FABRIKtester
FABRIKtester are specialists in the fields of production and related areas with a major focus on optimising processes. They view themselves as trainers with the ability to get things done, and they tackle tasks with company members of staff on the spot with plenty of enthusiasm.