Customers
Baxter's supply chain extends from producers of raw materials to end users of the company’s products. Maintaining a safe, secure and reliable supply chain is essential for ensuring patient safety.
Baxter's supply chain must function without interruption even when natural disasters and other unexpected crises occur. For example, when severe weather threatens a Baxter facility, the company may relocate its customer service representatives so they can continue serving patients and meeting customer needs. Or, to meet customer needs in difficult times, Baxter empowers its drivers to take special measures. For example, a driver rented a four wheel drive vehicle to deliver critical products to a hard-to-reach patient in a snowstorm.
Increasing Efficiency Through e-commerce
Baxter offers customers the eServices Center, a Web portal for order placement, inquiries and shipment tracking. Customers can find approximately 80 percent of Baxter’s products in the company’s on-line catalog, which is available in 14 countries. Baxter supports standard electronic data interchange (EDI) as well as transactions processed through the Global Healthcare Exchange. The exchange is owned by Baxter and other healthcare manufacturers, group purchasing organizations and distributors, and enables healthcare providers to transact with multiple vendors through one electronic connection.
Electronic ordering, invoicing, payment, advanced-ship notices, distributor transactions and inquiries enable Baxter to streamline customer transactions and reduce paper use and costs. In the United States, nearly 75 percent of customer order lines are handled electronically.
