Turning crisis into an opportunity

A crisis was minimised and later, turned into an opportunity to enhance broader resilience management.

On the first hour of this project’s first day, the main warehouse of a remote surgical and general hospital was closed due to contamination.

At short notice, we were engaged to lead the on-site operations team. By identifying then quickly converting a large basement carpark into a safe operating warehouse, we sourced sufficient stocks and the capacity to handle emergency deliveries on-site.

With the appropriate operational and safety controls in place, by day three there was no impact on the emergency or elective surgery schedules. This ‘temporary’ warehouse operated for 12 months until a new facility was constructed.

This incident led to a broader supply chain resilience review that created a long-term plan for the region. The plan included organisational design, new warehouse developments, strategic inventory management and the implementation of procurement strategies.

The results

Thanks to the team lead by John, the best possible solution was implemented, with safe operating protocols, in a very short time