Implementation Examples - Service Providers

Medical Supply Logistics - Oversight

The Challenge

A hospital receives boxes of medical supplies daily and distributes those supplies to various stations where they are consumed at irregular rates. Excess supplies are stored in various locations, but where each extra box ends up isn’t accurately recorded. As a result, the hospital routinely orders more supplies then they consume, and the storage locations become filled. Periodically, workers are required to inventory the closets and adjust their supply orders.

The hospital's goals were:

To monitor which supplies are distributed to which stations
To record which supplies are placed into which storage locations
To maintain an accurate inventory of which supplies are available
To decrease the time that supplies are stored

Sparrow's Solution

Each distribution station and storage location were registered with Sparrow. The resulting unique Sparrow QR Code markers were created for each registered location and discretely affixed to each location.
As boxes of supplies are received, each is registered with Sparrow and affixed with the corresponding Sparrow Item QR Code marker.
Workers distributing the supplies scan each of the box markers when they are collected and then scan the location marker and the box marker again when the supplies are distributed.
When supplies are collected from storage locations, the location marker is scanned followed by the item marker on the box.

ROI & Benefits

Each scan of a Sparrow QR Code marker is logged in real-time. When workers scan the boxes that are received, a record of that scan event is created and stored in Sparrow’s secure online database. Management reviews these records to determine which boxes have been received and when and by whom.
When workers scan the stations and the boxes that are being delivered to those stations a record is created in Sparrow’s secure online database that links the unique box of supplies to the unique station that they are being delivered to. Management can generate a report that shows which supplies are at which station and how often those supplies need to be replenished.
As excess boxes of supplies are moved into or out of storage locations, the unique Sparrow Location QR Code marker for the location and the unique Sparrow Item QR Code marker for the supplies are scanned by the worker moving the supplies. A log of each scan event is generated and by reviewing that log, management has an accurate inventory of each storage location.
Before orders are placed for additional supplies, management reviews the overall inventory of supplies at each distribution station and each storage location to determine which supplies need to be ordered. Additionally, as distribution stations run low on supplies, workers retrieve stored replacements quickly and without the need to search multiple storage locations for the exact thing that is needed.