Growing Together

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With an innovative approach, GlobalMed Logistics helps to keep medical device companies moving forward.

GlobalMed Logistix wants their customers to do what they are best at: creating medical devices that change lives for the better. GMLx takes on the complexity of distribution and field inventory management for medical device manufacturers large and small so those manufacturers can put their resources and energy into creating, manufacturing, and selling great products.

As one of the country’s leading healthcare third party logistics (3PL) firms, GMLx specializes in medical warehousing, distribution, inventory management, and customer service for companies that outsource those functions.

GMLx facilitates over 90,000 surgical cases and orders per year at over 3,000 healthcare facilities across the country and has approximately $600 million worth of medical device inventory under management. Their parent company, CrossLink Life Sciences, is the nation’s largest private orthopedic and spine device distributor.

As GMLx president and COO Scott Vane put it, “Our role in logistics has been built on 40 years of best practice experience and industry experience, all specific to healthcare logistics.”

Established in 2013, GMLx first sought to assist startup medical device companies, most of which are bought by larger companies within three to five years of their founding. “We wanted to capture and grow with them and help them build up their process control and leverage our best practices so they didn't have to build it all out,” Vane explained. “As we did that, a couple of them were acquired, and that added more visibility for mid-sized and larger companies to keep the services we were providing. That snowballed us into the mid-range and larger size companies to provide the same services.”

That success spurred significant growth, and just last year the Norcross, Ga., firm expanded its headquarters to accommodate increased demand. “The expansion was caused by a number of international and domestic customers coming on board,” Vane continued.

“These were companies that ranged from startups to large players in the medical device space. They were looking for services that were going to be more efficient, more streamlined, looking for an outsourcing partner that could take complexity out of their business and simplify it but also consolidate vendors into one service provider. Because of that, we basically ran out of space.”

To remedy that, an updated 60,000 square foot facility on the company’s campus gives GMLx room to grow for new customers as well as increased service capabilities for existing ones. “(W)e have a very flexible way to help companies out when it comes to managing their operational supply chain,” Vane noted. That flexibility enables GMLx to offer customers an a la carte approach to service. “(T)hat's a huge value in the medical device space; we’re building a great concept with a small virtual C-suite of a team.”

The company’s initial strategy of pursuing startup clients resulted in a novel way to build collaborative partnerships and add value. When early stage medical device companies prepare for valuation and work out an exit strategy with investors, having a dedicated logistics partner onboard makes that exit cleaner, faster, and simpler. Vane pointed out that with a partner like GMLx onboard, investors don’t have to sink unnecessary funds into a company that’s going to be sold off in a handful of years.

“Every year one or two of our customers are acquired by larger companies, and it just speaks to the kind of value we create for folks. Those in the financial space truly understand what that means in terms of creating a trusted partnership with an outsourcing partner like us,” Vane said. “Having a company with a core competency focused on operational excellence in partnership with them drives their value of an acquisition. Companies that have partnered with us have been acquired, and we've done an excellent job of being that integration component through to the next owner of the medical device company. That's important to us.”

High flying growth with great people

In Vane’s view, responding to the onslaught of constant customer-driven change, increased intensity, and the evolving complexity of logistics in the medical device space takes great people.

“One thing that we've been able to do at GMLx is to identify extremely talented people that have a progressive mindset for continuous improvement and operational excellence. We as a company created a runway to inspire great people. We put them in at takeoff and allow them to run and explore, and when they take off, they deliver results. Those results define what we do. Our mission is to be a trusted partner that drives better business results for our healthcare customers. Together we grow.”

GMLx wants to grow and is doing so through partnerships with great companies poised for the same. “If they grow, we grow. It's all based on the premise of having a great foundational relationship with that customer through the people we hire and the service we can provide them,” Vane added. “A lot of our innovation comes from our customers asking, ‘Hey, can you?’ The answer is, yes we can, because we have. Or, we haven't tried it yet, but we're not afraid to. That leads into a growing business providing a greater partnership.”

Replenishment and expiration management services are a critical aspect of the GMLx service mix. “In our space, the supply chain and inventory management of the entire space is changing dynamically. There are huge opportunities from an efficiency and streamlining standpoint to be gained through these services. Companies are being asked to deliver more value to hospitals, and that’s done through their product innovation and how they deliver their product,” he said.

“We help them sell their products by creating great services that help engage with the hospital, with the sales distribution network, and make it simple and easy for them to be a viable medical device company that's outsourcing.

“Expiration is very challenging. What differentiates us from the next is the process control that we set up. It is an arduous, unique, attention-to-detail type of service that has to take place. … To be a successful medical device manufacturer, you've got to have great order replenishment.”

At the end of the day, Vane stressed, GMLx lives its mission to be a trusted partner. “(A)s a true partner driving results with you, if we can get a win with you, you get a win, we get a win, and at the end of the day together we grow.”