With strict and ever changing regulatory requirements that must be adhered to, many large pharmaceutical companies face the complex and costly process of constantly having to keep reps that work away from the office supplied with updated written materials and product demonstration devices. ByBox argues it has a secure and cost-effective delivery solution
ByBox provides bespoke supply chain solutions to customers and has been working with pharmaceutical and healthcare company, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) ever since 2003. The company collects material from the GSK warehouse to deliver to representatives, it is then trunked through the night and delivered before 8.00 am to electronic lockers (iBoxes) that are situated at convenient locations such as petrol stations and supermarkets.
As a global company GSK employs over 90,000 people in 114 countries worldwide. With its headquarters in the UK and a large number of reps out in the field, the company constantly needs to get large amounts of new written materials and samples to reps to take to customers.
To achieve this, 700 of their UK-based reps collect and return material through the ByBox locker network at sites across the UK. Because of the vast network that ByBox has, the representative can simply collect their items at a time convenient during their day's work, meaning the representative does not need to stay home waiting for a delivery.
Located on convenient sites such as supermarkets, petrol stations and train stations that are accessible 24/7, engineers can collect parts at their convenience
When an item is delivered, the rep receives either a text or an email or both to inform them that something is waiting to be picked up. They then have up to two working days to collect the item. They can also use the same system in reverse to return items back to the GSK warehouse. This process is just as simple as the delivery process. The reps simply put the item into an iBox with a pre-printed label and ByBox then ensures the item gets to where it needs to go. The materials that GSK reps receive through ByBox include printed matter, exhibitions stands and medical demonstration devices.
Mark Garritt, managing director of ByBox says:‘Our lockers have traditionally been used for engineers and their spare parts, but reps also need materials and the ability to track them from delivery to return.’
With legislation requiring that all samples and materials are up to date, this is essential. Reps used to have go to offices to collect goods or they used to have to wait at home, meaning they had a day when they were not on the road selling.
Garritt adds: ‘Our solution eliminates this problem and ensures material is received and returned quickly and conveniently.”
Hannah Marsh, operations manager, from GSK UK, says: ‘Supporting our customer-facing colleagues with rapid access to the materials they need is essential. Offering the ByBox service as an alternative to the traditional delivery methods has given us greater flexibility so our teams do not need to wait at home for deliveries.’
