How a Medical Supply Wholesaler Tripled Throughput with a Data-Driven Warehouse

An American Medical Supply Wholesaler transformed a massive, 350,000-square-foot warehouse that was once bogged down by paperwork into a streamlined, scan-driven operation. Now, they’re shipping three times the volume, enjoying better visibility, and spending fewer weekends working on the floor.

3.5X Higher Throughput

2 Days of Weekend Work Eliminated

2000+ Items Cleansed

Client Overview

This Medical Supply Wholesaler is a healthcare sourcing and product development firm that provides custom, compliant medical products and complete supply chain solutions to leading health systems, reference labs, and distributors.

With management offices in the U.S. and Asia-Pacific and a production network spanning more than 100 facilities in 10 countries, the company relies on efficient warehousing and distribution to handle thousands of SKUs across both commodities and customized products.

To maintain the high level of quality and control it promises customers, the client partnered with Conveyance Solutions to bring its warehouse operations in line with its Prophet 21 system.

Services Involved

Warehouse Optimization
Prophet 21 Maintenance & Optimization
Prophet 21 WWMS

The Challenge

In this Medical Supply Wholesaler’s extensive 350,000-square-foot warehouse, the team depended on manual processes and paper-based controls that could not keep pace with growing demand. The team recognized that Prophet 21 and WWMS could offer the structure and insights they desperately needed, but earlier consulting efforts had left key visibility and inventory issues unresolved.

Key issues included:

Significant dependence on paper for tasks with about 75% of warehouse workflows still being managed manually
Limited utilization of Prophet 21’s Wireless Warehouse Management System, leading to inconsistent adoption and fragmented data across processes
Little visibility into workforce productivity, making it difficult for leaders to gauge throughput, set realistic targets, and manage labor effectively
Inventory discrepancies and unreliable on-hand balances complicated planning and posed risks for both incoming and outgoing orders

Our Approach

Conveyance Solutions led a phased warehouse optimization effort to align the wholesaler’s physical workflows with Prophet 21 and WWMS, beginning at the receiving dock and extending through picking, packing, and QC. The team concentrated on building system-driven, scan-based processes so inventory, labor, and movement could be tracked accurately at each step. Our approach covered:

Palletized Receiving & Tracking
Introduced pallet-level receiving with cones, bin tracking, and priority designations so every pallet and transfer location had a defined role in both the warehouse and P21. This removed truckload-level receiving and enabled item-level visibility from inbound through staging to outbound.
Guided Warehouse Sequencing
Reorganized warehouse layout and mapped optimal routes into Prophet 21 so pickers followed efficient, system-directed paths instead of ad hoc travel across the 350k square foot facility.
Scan-Based Workflows
Replaced printed pick tickets and manual task assignments with system-generated tasks and barcode scanning at each step, reducing misreads of item IDs and keeping ERP data in sync with floor activity.
Quality Control Redesign
Shifted QC from paper-based checks to scanning and pallet label printing, improving shipping accuracy and reducing rework before pallets left the dock.
Performance-Linked Incentives
Partnered with the client’s leadership to tie a new rewards program to system metrics so employees could see how their work translated into measurable productivity gains.

Results & Impact

The project delivered measurable gains in throughput, accuracy, and operational visibility, reshaping how wholesaler manages its warehouse operations.

3.5x Higher Throughput
Warehouse output increased to roughly 3.5x previous levels, enabling the team to exceed order intake and reduce open order lines to approximately 2.3 days.
System-driven Receiving
By standardizing the receiving process, the team eliminated bottlenecks and gained end-to-end visibility across inbound, storage, and outbound inventory.
Reduced Labor Hours
Weekend work is nearly eliminated thanks to efficiency gains.
A Single Source of Truth
Trusted data now supports accountability and more confident day-to-day decisions.
Culture of Accountability
The project fostered a mindset shift among staff, driving better cross-team collaboration and stronger alignment around shared goals and measurable results.
Actionable workforce insights
Leaders now rely on system metrics to communicate with executives, while managers can see individual activity on the floor and spot misplaced inventory before it affects customers.

With a blend of deep Prophet 21 expertise and on-the-ground process work, Conveyance Solutions enabled this Medical Supply Wholesaler to convert a paperwork-laden warehouse into a high-efficiency, data-driven operation that leaders can depend on.