“The strengths of a hospital operator are in providing medical supplies for patients and creating the general conditions required for this. Rhenus eonova has the necessary expertise to manage logistics processes. PGDS focuses on purchasing as the strategic task of the Paul Gerhardt Social Welfare Organisation. Based on these two constants, both companies have jointly developed the solutions for the supply chain management system to function well and supply our medical facilities” Sabine Köchling, Managing Director of Paul Gerhardt Diakonie Services GmbH, explains. The wholly-owned subsidiary of the Paul Gerhardt Diakonie Association acts as the services company for health centres in the fields of purchasing and logistics, catering, central sterilisation and cleaning.
“As a logistics services provider, it’s our job to know our customers’ needs. Based on this in-depth knowledge of the sector and using our extensive range of services, we’re able to offer logistics products to customers like Paul Gerhardt Diakonie Services and they create financial benefits for our customers too,” Sven Averhage, Managing Director of Rhenus eonova GmbH, emphasises. “In the light of the pressure to reduce costs in hospitals, it’s also possible to save money in the field of logistics by using efficient outsourcing strategies – and without minimising the quality of the services – or even increasing them by cooperating with logistics experts.” For example, the logistics partnership involves further developments in the warehousing software used by Rhenus eonova, which would not be feasible for individual health centres in this form; and this improves processes too.
The cooperation between Rhenus eonova and Paul Gerhardt Diakonie Services, which used to operate as an association to construct Lutheran hospitals, started in 2004. It was possible to optimise the supply chain management through the construction of a logistics centre at Berlin’s Westhafen in 2007. Both partners now handle the complete organisation of supplies to 23 hospitals that have more than 3,900 beds in Berlin and the surrounding area from their joint facility, which has 2,900 square metres of business space.