Medical device distributor operating system
Surgeon and hospital accounts, lot and expiry tracking, consignment stock, regulatory and recall tasks, reps, B2B orders and a small warehouse, for a specialist medical device distributor.
The problem
A small specialist distributor imports medical devices from overseas manufacturers and supplies surgeons, private hospitals and clinics, with some products also sold direct to patients online. Every device must be traceable by lot or serial number to the patient and the hospital, stock sits on consignment in hospital theatres, expiry dates matter, and the business carries regulatory obligations for the products it sponsors. With a handful of staff, this lives in the inventory system, the accounting package, spreadsheets and the owner's head, so consignment counts drift, expiring stock is found too late, and recall readiness depends on one person.
What we built
An illustrative operating system for a specialist medical device distributor, with views for the owner, operations and warehouse, sales reps, customer service, regulatory and accounts.
- Customer accounts and orders: surgeons, private hospitals and clinics with pricing agreements, orders from the B2B portal, reps and email on one board, through picking, dispatch and invoice. Consumer orders from the online store sit alongside.
- Lot, serial and expiry tracking: every device received, stored, consigned, used and invoiced against its lot or serial number. Expiry alerts at 6, 3 and 1 months with suggested actions (rotate to a busier site, return, discount).
- Consignment stock in hospitals: what is on the shelf at each hospital, usage reports from theatres turned into replenishment orders and invoices, periodic consignment counts with variances.
- Implant and patient traceability: usage records linking device, lot, surgeon, hospital and procedure date, so a recall can be answered in minutes. Registry and patient card tasks tracked where they apply.
- Regulatory and quality: product registrations and their renewal dates, supplier certificates, complaints and adverse event records with deadlines, and a recall workflow (identify affected lots, find every customer and patient record, draft notices for approval, track responses and returns). People make every regulatory decision; the system keeps the evidence.
- Sales reps: territory plans, surgeon visits, product demonstrations and in-service training sessions, loaner instrument sets booked and tracked, opportunities and quotes.
- Purchasing and imports: reorder suggestions from usage and lead times, purchase orders to overseas manufacturers, shipments tracked through freight and customs to receipt, landed cost, bills matched in accounting.
- Equipment service: powered surgical equipment registered to customers, service and repair jobs, loan units while equipment is away.
- Staff: small-team roster, leave, timesheets to payroll, training records for regulatory procedures, onboarding.
- Guardrails: nothing is sent to customers, patients or regulators, ordered or released from quarantine without a person approving it; patient information is kept to what traceability needs and stays in Australia.
The board at a glance
| Order received | Picked by lot | Dispatched | Used (consignment) | Invoiced | Paid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hospital 7, replenishment | Clinic 22, Lot L-4471 | Surgeon 15, loaner set | Hospital 3, Serial S-20918 | Hospital 9 | Clinic 4 |
Connects to
Inventory and warehouse ("Fishbowl, Cin7 or Unleashed"), accounting ("Xero, MYOB, Reckon or QuickBooks"), B2B ordering portal and online store ("WooCommerce, Shopify or similar"), sales rep app, freight, Microsoft 365 and SharePoint for controlled documents. Exact connections are confirmed during discovery.
Outcome
Illustrative: designed from how specialist medical device distributors operate, not built for a specific business.
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