WalMart, KMart, and the Medical Device Industry....

To best understand what Summate is about, it’s helpful to have a brief history review of how POU scanning (barcode scanning) was developed in retail.  

Any POU scanning system needs three essential pieces:  clearly discernible  labeling with a standardized digital mark (barcode), a fast and efficient reading system to reliably read the mark, and a clean, current, complete and accessible data base to match up the scanned data to deliver full and complete product information upon scanning.  If any of the pieces are missing or substandard, adoption by end users will be poor;  the chain is only as strong as its weakest link.

Retail label barcodes were conceived in the late 1940s, but adoption in the market was hindered by the reliability and cost of scanning technology.  However with the advent of laser technology in the 60s and early 70’s, the data capture problem was largely solved.  However, adoption was poor because this reading technology was expensive, and the retail industry was reluctant to make the investment.

Everything changed in the early 80s when Sam Walton realized that the biggest piece of magic in barcode scanning wasn’t in the transactional efficiency itself (although that was significantly improved), but in the value of the real time information that was generated at the register, which provided WalMart with accurate, real-time analytics to better and more efficiently manage their operations.  WalMart raced with investment in the new scanning technologies and the rest was history, as the company became by far the most successful and largest retailer in the world.  POU scanning adoption gave WalMart and almost unfair advantage over their slower moving rivals. KMart and Co. never recovered from the head start that WalMart had.

All through leveraging the power of the data behind POU scanning.  

With analog sets and trays and complex and error prone manual documentation, medical device industry supply chain management is stuck back where the retail industry was in the 60s and 70s. The industry is plagued by huge inventory management costs and inefficient billing practices. Digital orthopedic sets and trays enabled by Summate’s Scan Ready technology, and Summate’s ScanTrakker point of use scanning solution solves the problems through the power of data.

Summate’s micro-chip based solution reads implant usage directly from the sterile field

The question I would ask device industry decision makers is: who wants to be KMart and who wants to be WalMart???

For more information go to www.summate.net