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How a medical supply company used data to optimize its logistics center
- DPA
A fast-growing family business specializing in medical supplies faced increasing complexity. Processes scaled up, responsibilities shifted, and the need for current information grew rapidly. DPA brought clarity and provided insight and stability through smart data applications. The result: more efficient processes, faster delivery, and better patient service.
The insights weren't just valuable—they changed the way we work.
Leroy Verspuij - consultant Supply Chain & Data Analytics bij DPA
The challenge
The medical supply company delivers hundreds of orders to patients across the Netherlands every week. Growth created greater demand for management information from departments like Logistics and Sales. But the data was scattered across multiple systems and difficult to access. Only the data team had the knowledge and tools to efficiently extract usable insights.
The result: extensive manual work, reactive responses, one-off spreadsheets, and limited insight into daily operations.
The approach: from reactive to scalable
In practice, information needs often arose following a specific incident or change. A department suddenly needed insight but couldn't efficiently extract it from the systems. Team EIFFEL's Data team played a critical role: responding quickly, gathering information, and translating it into clear reports and overviews.
Where possible, we processed recurring questions into dashboards so the answer was ready next time. This created more efficiency and freed up space to work on larger projects that contributed to process improvement and further organizational growth.
Result 1: heatmap makes pick process visible and more efficient
One tangible result is the warehouse heatmap. This visualizes how often and how much orders are picked at each warehouse location. This made bottlenecks in the pick process visible. A suspicion that had been circulating within Logistics—that there were unnecessarily long walking routes for frequently requested products—was confirmed. Once this was clear in the report, locations of certain items were relocated. This significantly accelerated the pick process. The data in the report refreshes daily, so the warehouse always has current insights.
Result 2: critical management information without burdening the production server
An important concern for the logistics team was steering on current data without risks to operational systems. The existing infrastructure only provided insight through the previous day.
Using Power Automate and SQL, DPA developed a solution where only relevant tables are copied to the analysis environment every 30 minutes. This creates near real-time insight without burdening the production server. The dashboard immediately shows which pick orders have priority and where proactive action is possible.
Through the successful collaboration with Leroy, better insights emerged. By combining knowledge from different perspectives, we ultimately achieved results that elevated the logistics business to a higher level.
Logistics Manager
What does it deliver?
Through better inventory management, faster reporting, and current insights, the logistics operation accelerated. Orders are delivered faster and more completely. Client satisfaction increased, and employees have more control over their work.