Williams Medical Supplies: Blog

Article Posted 21/10/2009 10:55:00
Written by Graeme Fleming

Catalogue Creation

The process involved in producing the Williams Medical Supplies catalogue is something of an enigma. While it takes close to a year to plan and compile, the design team usually end up spending an intensive couple of months putting the final touches on it in a feat akin to 'The Elves and the Shoemaker'.

Given the IT systems we have in place, the only evidence that catalogue season is well and truly upon us is three moody designers who...

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Article Posted 21/10/2009 10:55:00
Written by Graeme Fleming

Catalogue Creation

The process involved in producing the Williams Medical Supplies catalogue is something of an enigma. While it takes close to a year to plan and compile, the design team usually end up spending an intensive couple of months putting the final touches on it in a feat akin to 'The Elves and the Shoemaker'.

Given the IT systems we have in place, the only evidence that catalogue season is well and truly upon us is three moody designers who hiss at the sight of sunlight (so nothing that out of the ordinary really!).

My team and I have around 25 years of catalogue experience between us. In my humble opinion, the Williams Medical Supplies Catalogue is the best medical supplies catalogue and has been for quite some time. That said, it's not just my opinion, as well as having won the ECMOD Award for the Best Catalogue for three consecutive years, many of our customers tell us that they regard our tome as the ultimate reference guide for primary care supplies and services.

Our aim is always the same - to produce the best possible catalogue for our customers, so we are constantly benchmarking what we produce versus our competitors and take genuine pride in what we do.

We are always looking for new ideas to ensure we keep improving the catalogue and many of the innovations we've introduced have come from our customers - the ones who actually use it day in, day out.

I know that there are plenty of you out there who have great ideas about how we can make our next catalogue the best it can be, and ultimately make your roles easier. So whether you have suggestions on how we can make it easier to use, the type of product information you need or don't need or any other ideas, we would love to hear from you.

If you have any suggestions that you¹d like us to incorporate, please feel free to e-mail us at websupport@wms.co.uk. We look forward to receiving your comments and feedback!

Article Posted 01/07/2009 11:45:00
Written by Catherine Johnson and Tracey Thomas

Ready for your call!

Williams Medical Supplies receives on average 600 calls each day from our customers. Have you ever wondered who is on the end of the line when you call up?

We both work in the sales department managing the day-to-day running of two sales teams. Our teams are very dedicated to our customers, as well as to each other. Everyone shares similar values which include giving a first class service and treating our customers as we would want t...

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Article Posted 01/07/2009 11:45:00
Written by Catherine Johnson and Tracey Thomas

Ready for your call!

Williams Medical Supplies receives on average 600 calls each day from our customers. Have you ever wondered who is on the end of the line when you call up?

We both work in the sales department managing the day-to-day running of two sales teams. Our teams are very dedicated to our customers, as well as to each other. Everyone shares similar values which include giving a first class service and treating our customers as we would want to be treated ourselves.

What's really unique about the members of our sales team is how much they know about the products we stock. The average sales team member has worked at WMS for three years, but we also have people who have worked here for between six and 11 years. The team members know a tremendous amount about everything from family planning to the different types of ECG machines and sutures.

We have an inbound sales team of 11 people and an outbound sales team of three people. The inbound team take customer orders and queries coming into the department between 8.30am and 6pm, managed by organising staggered shifts. The team deal with fax, post and email orders along with preparing product quotations.

The role of the outbound team is to call customers advising them of offers on their account or take them through any special promotions we are running. Like inbound sales, we also process quotations requested by customers.

Both being working mothers, we juggle family life with a full time job (having three children each we often come to work for a rest!) We are so fortunate to say we love coming to work; it's hard enough to find a job in this current climate so we both know how lucky we are to have a job we enjoy so much.

Even though we're very busy, WMS is a great place to work. The company provides a free gym, free fruit, an internet café and we've even got a Wii console in our restroom. We have the option to join the company's health plan which, along with medical conditions, covers most of our dental and bills.

We're just coming to the end of our first blog and hope it's provided insight into the fantastic sales team here at WMS!

Article Posted 01/06/2009 16:48:00
Written by Tim Jarrett

Weaving the Web

With the sun in the sky as it is this week, it's hard to think of anything less enticing than sitting in front of a monitor, browsing for medical supplies. However, you and thousands of other Williams Medical Supplies website customers do this every week, and for this I thank you!

As you'd expect from...

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Article Posted 01/06/2009 16:48:00
Written by Tim Jarrett

Weaving the Web

With the sun in the sky as it is this week, it's hard to think of anything less enticing than sitting in front of a monitor, browsing for medical supplies. However, you and thousands of other Williams Medical Supplies website customers do this every week, and for this I thank you!

As you'd expect from an ecommerce manager, I think there are many advantages to buying online. The website is available 24 hours a day, and we have many customers who choose to place their orders in the very early hours of the morning, on bank holidays and even on Christmas day itself. I realise however that there are times when there is no alternative to a phone call to our fantastic sales team and the website will never fully replace the 'human touch' that has been part of the WMS ethos since day one.

My aim as ecommerce manager is to make the website as easy to use and as comprehensive as possible. You may have noticed that products are now easier to find, there is more consistency in descriptions and images and fewer gaps in the product range. Many of the enhancements that have taken place over the last year or so have been suggested by you, and we pay close attention to our 'Feefo' feedback (see the link on our homepage for more information) to continually improve the site.

Regular readers of the WMS Blog may remember that my colleague Neil wrote an article in March about Project Utopia. Utopia is now well under way and will soon allow us to roll out a number of great new enhancements to the website, including improvements in product information and enhanced account servicing tools. Working with Neil and his colleagues on a project the size and scope of Utopia is hugely exciting and - just like a weekend of uninterrupted sunshine - something that happens quite rarely. If you have any suggestions that you'd like us to incorporate, please feel free to email me at webmaster@wms.co.uk - I'd love to hear from you!

Article Posted 24/04/2009 08:00:00
Written by Rob Whiting, Health and Safety Manager

Going Green!

After 25 years as a computer programmer working in London, moving to South Wales was meant to be the 'Good Life'. To start with it was; an old house in the Brecon Beacons with a bit of land, cats, dogs, horses, sheep, goats, rabbits, geese, ducks, hens and another four children. I was on a roll.

...

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Article Posted 24/04/2009 08:00:00
Written by Rob Whiting, Health and Safety Manager

Going Green!

After 25 years as a computer programmer working in London, moving to South Wales was meant to be the 'Good Life'. To start with it was; an old house in the Brecon Beacons with a bit of land, cats, dogs, horses, sheep, goats, rabbits, geese, ducks, hens and another four children. I was on a roll.

Then a local farmer friend brought me down to earth with a bang: "You'll struggle to pay the feed bill. Get a job," he said. And he was right.

That's how I got into facilities/health, safety and environmental management. After a five year learning period with a small printing company in Brecon I moved to Williams Medical Supplies in 2002.

On joining the company my first reaction was one of complete amazement. How could this company, in the Rhymney Valley, be so progressive and dynamic? It was as if I had gone back to my old life in London. The Rhymney site is about six acres of beautifully landscaped grounds with a modern warehouse and offices. A large percentage of the staff live locally so there is a very strong family and community spirit about the place.

Half of my job is to maintain the site and its buildings, which is always a varied and interesting task. We have 150 staff and for them to work to their full potential I have to ensure that they are all relaxed and content with their working environment. This means tea and coffee machines that work well all of the time, comfortable workstations and rest areas for breaks. The office and warehouse areas must be clean and well organised - site maintenance has to be of the highest level.

The other half of my role is to look after the health, safety and wellbeing of the staff. Our company has always put the wellbeing of our staff at the top of the agenda so this part of my job is made so much easier. The bedrock of health and safety is risk assessment. It is my job to identify hazards within our workplace, evaluate the risks they pose to staff and eliminate or reduce them. Fire is a serious hazard so our preventative measures must be of the highest quality and tested regularly. We have to have the correct organisation in place for of this to work, such as appointing and training health and safety representatives, first aiders and fire marshals.

Environmental issues are also part of my remit and one of my main aims is to continuously reduce our carbon footprint. We now recycle about 70% of our waste which reduces what we send to landfill dramatically. We have installed sensor lighting wherever possible and there is always a campaign to save energy by 'switching off' going on. When purchasing company vehicles, green credentials are of prime importance. Because 'saving the planet' is a fairly new part of our culture, training is an area that we are now actively researching.

Article Posted 30/03/2009 14:15:00
Written by Neil Pash, Head of Business Systems

Building Utopia

Hard-drive, Ram, Gigabits, Google, CPU... OK, that's the IT-speak over with; let's face it - you can't ask a guy with an IT background to write a blog without throwing in some geeky words, but hopefully it's out of my system now!

The intention of this blog is to provide some insight into a department ...

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Article Posted 30/03/2009 14:15:00
Written by Neil Pash, Head of Business Systems

Building Utopia

Hard-drive, Ram, Gigabits, Google, CPU... OK, that's the IT-speak over with; let's face it - you can't ask a guy with an IT background to write a blog without throwing in some geeky words, but hopefully it's out of my system now!

The intention of this blog is to provide some insight into a department that lurks behind the scenes and is rarely seen by the customer, the Business Systems department. When asked what our role is the simplest answer is that we see ourselves as ENABLERS and Solution Providers: we provide the tools, solutions and services that enable the business to function on a daily basis allowing it to CHANGE to meet the needs of our customers and the company.

Some people hate change, some people put up with it, but here at WMS we embrace it and see it as an opportunity to improve. Gone are the days when people could sit back and say if "it ain't broke, why fix it". The pressure of the current social and economic climate has made change a necessity - the long list of companies that failed to embrace change and have withered away is testament to the fact that you can't sit still anymore. Change is a necessity: everything must be done quicker, cheaper and better and that's where we come in.

WMS is constantly changing. We listen to phone recordings, customer comments and take every opportunity to meet customers to find out what they need from us. We've then been busy discussing, debating and arguing how best WMS can deliver those needs, and as a result we've launched numerous initiatives and projects to implement improvements that will make us a better company and enable us to provide a better service.

In fact we're currently in the middle of one of the most ambitious projects any company can undertake, but most will fear and avoid: a replacement of our main IT systems.

As a company we've listened to the calls for us to respond more quickly to customer queries, to be more accurate, to offer more information and to provide a better experience for customers and suppliers either over the telephone or on the website. Our nickname for the project is 'UTOPIA' as it's our quest for the perfect system.

As a department and a company, we're here to listen and then deliver solutions that enable the business to deliver what you - our customers - need!

Article Posted 12/03/2009 14:00:00
Written by Sue Parnell, Director of Human Resources

Times are a changing!

Once upon a time, leaders were identified by impressive job titles, large offices and expensive company cars; however, times are changing.

We're now moving away from restrictive hierarchies, and leadership, in this day and age, is far more about engaging people and channeling their energy behind an organisation's v...

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Article Posted 12/03/2009 14:00:00
Written by Sue Parnell, Director of Human Resources

Times are a changing!

Once upon a time, leaders were identified by impressive job titles, large offices and expensive company cars; however, times are changing.

We're now moving away from restrictive hierarchies, and leadership, in this day and age, is far more about engaging people and channeling their energy behind an organisation's values, vision and direction.

Regardless of the size and shape of an organization, effective leadership is critical to achieving business success and leading an effective team does not happen by chance. Leaders need to develop a range of skills and behaviours that they can then apply to help their teams achieve. Leaders need to communicate with clarity and should be highly motivated to lead their teams to achieve results. Well led teams deliver consistent, high performance results which translate into value added services to the customer.

In this current economic climate, we at WMS understand that now is not the time for hiding away behind management reports or analysis, nor is it the time for conceptual, esoteric leadership theories. As leaders we need to offer as much clarity as possible and make sure people know what is expected of them and how they can make an effective contribution. We face the same leadership issues that many other organisations face; however, we are rising to the challenge!

I am delighted to be able to tell you that we have chosen to work closely with the Leadership Trust at Ross on Wye and have embarked on an exciting and innovative programme to help improve the leadership skills of our managers. I personally do not believe in the 'sheep dip' or one size fit's all approach to learning and as a result I'm pleased to have played a major part in the design and development of an ambitious two-year Leadership Development Programme which will be undertaken by all levels of managers at WMS.

This is a fantastic opportunity for everyone involved and for the business overall. WMS is recognised as a successful, high-growth organisation and is held in high regard both locally and nationally. As a result I have been liaising closely with the Welsh Assembly Government and have been fortunate to secure significant financial investment towards the cost of our programme which is very much appreciated.

Specifically, the programme is designed to equip our managers with the leadership, teamwork, change management and communication skills to lead our organisation through it's ambitious growth plans in order to achieve our vision of 'the first company you think of and the only company you need for all your medical supplies and services'.

The programme recently commenced with several of our managers returning to work on following their five-day residential course. They are exhausted both physically and mentally, amazed at the level of self awareness achieved during the course and highly complimentary about the whole experience, particularly of the skills and knowledge of the course facilitators.

I am excitedly awaiting feedback from the other attendees and hope to share our success with you at a later date, or maybe get one of our managers to relay their experiences in the form of a blog at a later date (once they've fully recovered). Until then, I'm off to Rome for the weekend...

Article Posted 18/02/2009 16:45:00
Written by Hugh Hamer, Head of Medical Services

At Your Service!

Write a BLOG - sounds simple, but I first had to ask, "What is a BLOG"? For those in the same position, I have discovered the full term is 'WEBLOG' and it "can be whatever you want it to be!" So here we go...

At WMS I am responsible for the newly formed Medical Services division. This is an exciting tim...

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Article Posted 18/02/2009 16:45:00
Written by Hugh Hamer, Head of Medical Services

At Your Service!

Write a BLOG - sounds simple, but I first had to ask, "What is a BLOG"? For those in the same position, I have discovered the full term is 'WEBLOG' and it "can be whatever you want it to be!" So here we go...

At WMS I am responsible for the newly formed Medical Services division. This is an exciting time as we continue to add new services that are designed to support our Primary Care customers. In fact, many of the services we provide are in response to our customers telling us what they’d like us to be able to do to support them.

It all began about four years ago with creation of our Test & Calibration service. This started with just one technician covering Wales and has grown to a total of 16 technicians covering every corner of the UK. Over 2,000 surgeries now use our Test & Calibration service to ensure their medical equipment is working as it should and reduce the associated risks of inaccurate diagnoses. There is a Calibration & Repair Centre at our head office where equipment that cannot be repaired or calibrated within a surgery can be returned to us for analysis and repair in our state-of-the-art workshop (I’ve been told I’m not allowed ‘advertise’ in this blog but we do this for an incredibly low £20 return carriage fee plus the repair costs). We’ve also recently added a mercury disposal service.

Building on the success of Test & Calibration and listening to the challenges facing our Practice Managers customers, last year we launched a Health & Safety Service to provide support in this difficult area of developing law and regulations. Being a farmer’s son, the words ‘Health & Safety’ usually meant a visit from an inspector that resulted in lots of work for us kids - but I know this is vital in your business. Our NEBOSH qualified Health & Safety Officers understand the surgery environment and are able to guide people through what can sometime be a confusing subject.

One of our newest additions is the Utilities Supply Service, providing competitive renewal quotes for your gas and electricity. If your contract is due for renewal soon - ask us to provide a comparison quote. We’ve had some fantastic feedback on the deals we can find for practices.

My role is to develop new Services that support you and your surgery. If you have any suggestions on services we could look at I would be very interested to hear them - please let me know.

I also keen to get something in here about how Wales beat England 23-15 at the weekend but am finding it difficult to shoehorn in. By my next BLOG I will have found a way - until then….

Article Posted 11/02/2009 17:00:00
Written by Vince Kerr, Managing Director

Our First Blog - Snow Business!

This is the first blog I have ever written - and the first in our new series of blogs - so I trust you will have patience with me. Last week was a strange and frustrating one, and this was down to the weather.

While my four children were thoroughly enjoying not going to school and sledging all day, the heavy snow falls have play...

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Article Posted 11/02/2009 17:00:00
Written by Vince Kerr, Managing Director

Our First Blog - Snow Business!

This is the first blog I have ever written - and the first in our new series of blogs - so I trust you will have patience with me. Last week was a strange and frustrating one, and this was down to the weather.

While my four children were thoroughly enjoying not going to school and sledging all day, the heavy snow falls have played havoc with our business. Being at an altitude of over 1,000ft, our WMS offices and surrounding area tend to get the worst of the weather. The main roads round here were not cleared, side roads were a real issue and many staff members had a quite bit of difficulty getting in to work.

On Monday and Tuesday we had to close the premises early in order to ensure that our employees could get home safely (with some of them suffering a three hour plus journey just to travel a few miles). That said, the view outside our office windows has never been more picturesque! This will, of course, have an impact on business and we guess that our customers had the same issues with staff and patients finding it difficult to get to the surgeries. We have noticed quite an impact on orders being rung through.

In these difficult economic times we could certainly do without the impact of the weather. Having said this, business for Williams Medical Supplies is looking positive and we are showing good growth of over 10% on last year. In fact, we had some fantastic news on Thursday, the prestigious Sunday Times ranking us at no. 69 on its annual Sunday Times Deloitte Buyout List of the fastest-growing private equity backed companies.

My feeling is that this is down to us focusing on providing a hassle-free and friendly service, and at the same time always trying to be great value, competitive and leading our market place. Let me know what you think – I would really like to know. I really hope you’ll enjoy reading these blogs which will be written by different members of the WMS team and will hopefully provide you with insight into our company, information and even a bit of humour. WMS is a very special company!