Posted On April 6, 2020
As we are all learning, medical supply chains are a life-and-death matter. When equipment arrives late (or not at all), a manageable illness can become a tragedy—and that isn’t just true during a pandemic. Chronic illnesses like heart disease, cancer, and diabetes haven’t taken the day off.
However, shipping the equipment and supplies needed to help treat these illnesses has suddenly become far, far more difficult. Cancelled flights, shuttered airports, furloughs, layoffs, and lockdowns have all caused critical links in some important supply chains to break.
The result?
Sick patients made potentially sicker by delays in receiving treatment.
The solution?
Creativity, dedication, and a commitment to excellence.
Even once public health officials contain COVID-19, it will take time to rebuild the supply chains that medical companies count on to get the equipment they need. How much time? No one knows. In the meantime, companies have to contend with the fact that the best possible supply chain will be the product of creativity, flexibility, and necessity. Moving equipment across the world may require a responsive supply chain partner capable of routing a shipment to the nearest open airport on the first available flight—and then arranging for ground transportation across one or more restricted borders.
The Flat World family recently helped one of our partners overcome that specific challenge.
In Europe, a shipment of critical medical equipment could not get shipped to its intended destination because of flight cancellations. In response, the Flat World family worked together to reroute equipment needed to treat chronic diseases to an alternate airport. Unfortunately, this creativity and responsiveness has become more necessary with each passing week—and it isn’t likely to end soon. As the illness spreads from nation to nation, flight cancellations and additional border restrictions will continue to impact shippers. Supply chains that once ran smoothly will continue to need last-minute rerouting.
At Flat World Global Solutions, that’s what we do.
For the last fifteen years we’ve been proud to partner with the world’s most innovative, important companies to help manage their supply chain, transportation, and logistics programs. Those partnerships include companies that manufacture and distribute critically important medical equipment. While COVID-19 grabs all the headlines, medical professionals across the globe are still treating diseases that are just as deadly. Because of our team’s commitment to excellence and willingness to go above and beyond, we solved our client’s problem and reroute the shipment.
The result?
Doctors and healthcare providers got the equipment they need to treat critically ill patients, even in a moment where supply chains have to instantly adapt to changing conditions.
The team at Flat World Global Solutions knows that the world faces extraordinary challenges, and supply chains matter more than ever. Our ability to monitor constantly changing shipping conditions help our partners deliver the equipment and supplies needed to keep our health system—and the economy—running.
We know times have changed, at least temporarily.
What hasn’t changed?
Our commitment to excellence, efficiency, and helping our partners build a supply chain that can adapt to a rapidly changing world. Let us know what we can do to help your community continue to deliver your own brand of excellence.
Stay healthy, stay safe, and let’s work toward a better tomorrow.
