Our Client: Our Client was a medical device manufacturer specialising in drug delivery devices. A UK born company they also have a strong Global presence. With a tail-end supply base approaching 1000 companies, vendor reduction as well as cost reduction was critical. Further virtually none of their suppliers were covered by contracts or Service Level Agreements.

Project: Our brief was to review spend on temporary labour, recommend and implement improvements within a 4 month timeframe.

Actions: The first port of call was to map all of the varying stakeholders and identify who would be supportive and who would be a barrier to progress. With the backing of Senior Management we interviewed all key stakeholders to identify their needs and found that three companies appeared as the natural forerunners. With the knowledge that the hiring managers are paramount in making a labour project successful we took the approach of leveraging the existing supply base while benchmarking against their competition. In a dual-site business all agencies were given the sweetener of potentially winning business at both sites. Our research also identified that significant cost improvements could be realised and terms improved while improving service levels.

Result: Following significant negotiation planning and through three rounds of face-to-face negotiations we eventually met with the leadership of all three businesses. A programme that involved the selection of two suppliers with Supplier A being the primary choice for Site 1 and Supplier B the primary for Site 2 and both secondary, or back-up, vendors for the alternate Site. This process delivered £101,235 of direct annual cost savings and we extended payment terms (in one case) to 90 days. Further we implemented 12 month Contracts with both companies giving our client stability of pricing and we introduced Service Level Agreements with stringent KPI’s to keep everyone on track! Vendors immediately reduced from over 20 down to 2 giving our client much better control.

Summary: In only 4 months (part time) this recruitment project delivered over £100k of direct, auditable savings and a very rare payment term increase to 90 Days along with a whole host of service improvements to the benefit of the hiring managers.

To find out more or ask any questions, please feel free to contact us on 0114 213 8306, enquiries@lime-associates.com or www.lime-associates.com

Joe Hage: 16x my investment?!

Lee Robinson: Ha ha! Yes. 16 times. But first, let me tell you a little about us.

Joe Hage: Please.

Lee Robinson: Lime Associates is a specialist Purchasing and Supply Consultancy based in the UK and we serve the entire world driving value for all our clients. We work entirely in Med Devices.

Joe Hage: Your LinkedIn profile has the auspicious letters MCIPS following your name. What does that mean?

Lee Robinson: Well, this is the Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply. Very prestigious for purchasing professionals…. I’m also chairman of the CIPS Health Technology group here in the UK, with members from all over the world, UAE, US, Africa and Europe. Helping purchasing people the world over with their medical buying needs.

Joe Hage, Medical Devices Group: Lee, help us understand: Who is your ideal client? What is a typical engagement? #MedDevice

Lee Robinson: OK, we work with all med device companies, from small/medium enterprise to multinationals. Typical clients are Smith & Nephew, Genzyme, Owen Mumford, etc.
Projects include anything that reduces cost or maximises value to our clients, such as low-cost sourcing or supply chain efficiency projects. We’ve delivered £12m in savings in the last two years.

Joe Hage: Ok, take us through the Smith & Nephew example. They hire you and …?

Click here to read the rest of the article and please call if we can help you to save money or improve efficiencies.

Sheffield based Lime Associates commissioned a rebranding exercise as part of an ambitious growth strategy that will see turnover quadruple over the next 5 years.

The rebranding, created by Leeds business snapshot media, comprises a new logo, a new website and new social media profiles for all of Lime’s Associates.

Commenting on the initiative, Lime Associates’ Chairman Malcolm Worrall said; “We are proud of the fact we have saved over £12 million for our clients in the last two years and wanted our branding to convey a more professional image that would help us to realise our strategic objectives.”

Malcolm continued; “Our growth plans include partnering with EPI International to offer clients the iCEO (intelligent Cost and Efficiency Optimisation) diagnostic and business improvement programme and recruiting more Associates with medical industry experience to help us to satisfy the demand for our Purchasing and Supply Chain consultancy services, and to better serve our customers.”

Of the new look, client Heiko Hackel, Vice President Global Sourcing at German company Sartorius Group said; “The new logo and the website look very sophisticated and professional and in my experience reflect the way that the team at Lime Associates conduct their business.”
Lime Associates’ team of consultants are currently engaged on Supply Chain, Interim Management, Cost Reduction and Business Start Up assignments with prestigious clients including Smith & Nephew, Scapa, Owen Mumford and Australian biomedical company Tissue Therapies.

Lime Associates is the only Purchasing and Supply Chain Consultancy in the UK that services the Medical and Health Technology industries exclusively.

We’re very pleased with this interview that National Health Executive (NHE) magazine ran in the March April issue of the magazine. Click here and take a look at P63 (magazine page, or P64-5 reader page) to find out more about the CIPS Health Technology Special Interest Group and its impressive list of member companies.

Project: Lime Associates was briefed to undertake a discreet global benchmarking exercise to gain a better understanding of the global carton board industry, to ascertain whether the client’s current board price and terms were in line with world market prices and to establish new suppliers in the event of expansion. A key driver was to establish if our client was now large enough to contract directly with the global board mills, or whether they should continue to conduct their purchasing via UK distributors.

Actions: In an industry that is suspicious of, and unwilling to share information with, newcomers, Lime Associates had to exercise caution. We used our global contacts to explore the South American, South East Asian and European markets and opened up opportunities in Malaysia and Indonesia.

Result: Lime Associates overcame the barriers and secured price and availability options from a range of global supply routes. We interrogated the world market to understand how global issues like an earthquake in Chile or American transport problems impacts on carton prices, availability and board allocations.

Summary: Working to tight deadlines, Lime Associates used its extensive Medical Industry knowledge and networks to deliver cost saving opportunities, potential new carton suppliers and a valuable insight into the complexities of the global carton board industry and sourcing options. Our work culminated in a detailed profile report for our client who used the content to negotiate better rates with their existing distributors and who continues to strive for direct board mill purchasing power as they grow in size.

To find out more or ask any questions, please feel free to contact us on 0114 213 8306 , enquiries@lime-associates.com or http://www.lime-associates.com

Entitled ‘Getting what Purchasing wants in a regulated environment’, the CIPS (Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply) Health Technology Special Interest Group’s first meeting was hosted by Lime Associates and attracted buyers from companies including Systagenix Wound Management, Owen Mumford and Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

After an introduction by CIPS Head of Membership Malcolm Youngson, speaker Mike Bullivant shared his extensive knowledge of the complexities of regulatory impacts in the Medical Device industry and Ed Luttrell delivered an entertaining and thought provoking session on leadership and the art of influence.

Commenting on the launch, Founder and Chairman of the group Lee Robinson said; “We’re delighted that this group has got the backing of CIPS and are pleased to report that our social media campaign has gained us contacts as far afield as the USA and South Africa. We currently have active members from companies including Genzyme, Owen Mumford, Astra Zeneca, Systagenix and Baxter but we would welcome more members to help us all gain maximum value from the group. The launch event has given us a solid base from which to grow and I’d like to extend my thanks to the speakers, the delegates and Lime Associates who kindly sponsored the event.”

Delegate Paul Currah, Strategic Purchasing Manager at Owen Mumford travelled from Oxfordshire for the event and said; “It was great to get together with others facing similar issues in the industry and explore together how to address them. The regulatory topic was interesting and the training element with Ed Luttrell about influencing skills was a real bonus. Time well spent; just the kind of event that makes my CIPS membership so worthwhile.”

The CIPS (Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply) Health Technology Special Interest Group has been established to help businesses of all sizes to deliver excellence in the highly regulated healthcare and medical industry and holds its inaugural meeting on 7^th March in Sheffield.  In advance of the launch, the group’s LinkedIn network has attracted members from as far afield as Australia, UAE and South Africa and includes representatives from companies including Johnson & Johnson, Merck Serono and Smith & Nephew.

Hosted by specialist medical purchasing and supply chain consultancy Lime Associates at its Sheffield office, the subject of the launch meeting is ‘Getting what Purchasing wants in a regulated environment’ and its keynote speakers Mike Bullivant and Ed Buttrell have attracted delegates from the NHS, Owen Mumford and Systagenix.

Founder member and chairman of the Health Technology Special Interest Group Lee Robinson said; “The CIPS Health Technology Group has been created as a way of networking and sharing best practice for people working in Medical Device and Pharmaceutical manufacturing. Whether we work for one of the world’s largest medical companies or a fledgling business, we all share common purchasing and supply chain challenges that are unique to this sector and the aim of the group is to create knowledge bases, share innovation, disseminate information and generally help each other so that we can add value to our respective businesses.”

The meeting takes place at Lime Associates’ headquarters at The Quadrant, Sheffield on 7^th March at 3.45pm with registration and concludes at 7.00pm.  Refreshments will be provided. There are still a limited number of places available. For more information and to book, please call 0845 880 1188 or visit

http://www.cips.org/en-GB/Community/groups/Health-Technology/Event-Listing/Health-Technology-Special-Interest-Group/

Mike, a Director of Michael Bullivant Ltd. is a Production Engineer by trade and has over 20 years’ experience in the Medical Device world. He has 9 years direct experience as a consultant specialising in CE Marking, forming technical files, ISO 13485 and regulatory impacts and has worked with many of the companies that we all represent.

Entitled ‘Getting what Purchasing wants in a regulated environment’ the CIPS (Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply) Health Technology Special Interest Group’s first meeting is being hosted by Lime Associates and has attracted keynote speakers Mike Bullivant and Ed Luttrell.

Mike, Director of Michael Bullivant Ltd, has over 20 years’ experience in the Medical Device industry including nine years consulting on regulatory impacts and Ed Luttrell, Director and Principal Coach of Blue Bamboo Consulting, has been an executive coach for over 15 years and specialises in helping Procurement and Supply Chain leaders achieve their full potential.

The aim of the event is to provide CIPS members and non-members with an understanding of how challenging purchasing within the Health Technology sector is and how to address these challenges so that delegates can make a real difference to their own organisations.

Founder member and chairman of the Health Technology Special Interest Group Lee Robinson said; “The CIPS Health Technology Group has been created as a way of networking, sharing best practice and raising purchasing practices in the world of Medical Device and Pharmaceutical manufacturing so that we can really make our mark on the global purchasing excellence map. We’re aiming to create knowledge bases, share innovation, disseminate information and generally help each other until we’re recognised as delivering excellence within our industry. We currently have active members from companies including Genzyme, Owen Mumford, Astra Zeneca, Systagenix and Baxter but we would welcome many more members to help us all gain maximum value from the group.”

Sponsored by medical purchasing and supply solutions specialists Lime Associates at The Quadrant, Sheffield, the meeting starts at 3.45pm with registration and concludes at 7.00pm.  Refreshments will be provided. For more information and to book, please call 0845 880 1188 or visit

https://www.cips.org/en-GB/membership/groups/Health-Technology/Event-Listing/Health-Technology-Special-Interest-Group/

Lime Associates is a team of manufacturing consultants who specialise in delivering purchasing and supply chain solutions for the Medical Device and Health Technology Industries and whose client base includes Smith & Nephew, Owen Mumford, Sartorius, Scapa Group, Lantor, Genzyme and Chester Medical.

CIPS is an international organisation serving the purchasing and supply profession.  Dedicated to promoting good practice, CIPS provides a wide range of services for the benefit of members and the wider business community.

A team of manufacturing consultants from Yorkshire is celebrating after helping clients to save over £2 million in the two years since it was founded.

Sheffield based Lime Associates specialises in bespoke purchasing and supply chain solutions for the Health Technology Industry and already boasts a client base that includes Smith & Nephew, Owen Mumford, Sartorius, Scapa Group, Lantor, Genzyme and Chester Medical.

Commenting on the anniversary, Supply Chain Consultant Steve Langron said; “We’re delighted to have exceeded our targets by developing relationships, gaining contracts and delivering results for these prestigious companies and look forward to growing the business further as we enter our third year.”

Lime Associates was recently part of a team that delivered a three year plan to deliver substantial savings on cartons and recruitment costs for Oxfordshire medical device manufacturer Owen Mumford and resulted in the client being shortlisted for the prestigious CIPS (Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply) awards.  Lime Associates’ Purchasing Consultant Lee Robinson negotiated the contracts and was pleased with the outcome; “This is a great example of best practice purchasing and the benefits of building strong relationships with clients, and their suppliers. We invested the time to understand Owen Mumford’s needs, worked with the team to develop the strategic plan and used our collective purchasing and supply chain management expertise to deliver the benefits.”

Lime Associates was founded in the heart of the recession when companies’ needs to deliver cost savings was at its most acute and its team of consultants comprises purchasing and supply chain management specialists who help clients to save money and improve profitability, cash flow and customer service.  Lime Associates also benefits from a unique financing mechanism that allows savings in a company’s indirect purchases to fund major cost reduction projects in other business areas, significantly reducing clients’ financial risk. Since launch Lime Associates has delivered, on average, savings for clients that are 16 times greater than their investment.

In my opinion the strategy that Refereeworld.com use is both push and pull strategy.  The PUSH strategy is the same as most high street stores and retailers, but ultimatley this is what retialing in e-commerce only consists of also.  The product is being pushed onto the customer with various brands and new styles being highlighted throughout the companies website.  Production and distribution are usually  based on long term strategies.  The push strategy is used to optimize the production process for cost and efficiency.

The value networks of Refereeworld.com include different activities and processess throughout internal boundaries, such as customer support and and processing.  External network values include suppliers and customers.

Refereeworld.com uses E-commerce to make the business more efficient.  It can maximise profit and increase sales by doing so.  The website is updated regularly with new products, new trends and new sales.  The newsletter that they offer is also a way of advertising using the Internet as you are entered into their mailing list.  This keeps you up to date with when the latest products available.  Using electronics and E-commerce can also cut costs as less paper is needed.  Everything can be stored on computers instead of file systems which also makes them easier to access.

Orders taken over the Internet can be immediatly processed and shipped to the delivery address.  This usually cuts the supply chain and decreases inventories.

However, I can argue that Refereeworld.com used the PULL strategy.  It is a virtual organisation, meaning it only uses information and communications technology to run their business, which allows it to operate without any defined physical boundaries. However being  virtual organisation also means that it has to rely on ‘pull’ operations. This reliance on pull means that they would find it difficult at times in trying to forecast how much stock they would require, and it is even more so difficult for them to meet deadlines when orders are placed at holiday periods as they have to deliver to the customer’s door.

The benefits of this strategy is that it is fast, inexpensive and is more accurate as it is the customer’s responsibility to be sure of what they are ordering before they confirm their order. Also because the customer would have to pay electronically, it speeds up processing the order.

When an order is placed however, it has to go through various places in the companies supply chain which includes, pricing a product, checking stock, shipping status, and the financial side of things i.e. credit checking a customer. This process does not take long from the customer’s side, but on the companies side it can be a difficult process if things are not in order.

Both give valid reasons why Refereeworld.com can use both Push and Pull strategy.