Apart from Indian market, Sabre was asked to assess the suitability of a Chinese company to supply for Vernacare.
Vernacare is an organization based in Bolton in the UK and a leader in infection control products in the global health care industry. As a pioneer of the single-use system over 50 years ago, Vernacare is the only company who produces the complete human wastes disposal system. The innovative single-use system includes pulp disposal units and a whole range of medical pulp products. The award winning products help reduce the risk of cross-infection, save nursing time and minimize the environmental impact and cost of alternative re-usable products. The products have been used by 94% of NHS hospitals in the UK and customers in over 50 countries around the world.
Sabre has been working with Vernacare team on entering Indian health care market since 2014. The project started with initial market research that identified major hospitals in the targeted premium healthcare sector. Subsequent visits to the shortlisted hospitals and meetings with key personnel were organized by Sabre to facilitate the selection of the representative hospitals for product trials.
Sabre local Indian team worked closely with logistical agent in conjunction with Vernacare and established the efficient and cost-effective logistical route prior to product trials.
In the course of trials, Sabre local team identified a service provider and played a vital role to ensure trials conducted as planned: they trained the nurse team, monitored the progress and provided weekly report, which formed the crucial database of the product performance history; moreover, they were available on 24/7 basis for any emergency.
Following the product trials, two major hospital groups located in New Delhi and Bangalore were willing to start discussions on the potential conversion. Sabre team worked with Vernacre on formulating the negotiation strategy and led the rounds of negotiations with the hospitals. In less than one year, five hospitals of one major hospital group in Bangalore were converted to Vernacare system, which was significantly shorter than Vernacare’s experience in other markets. Sabre was instrumental in market entry, managing local Indian resources, contract negotiations and developing the supply chain, demand forecasting model, ordering process and communication structure between Vernacare and the Indian clients.
Apart from Indian market, Sabre was asked to assess the suitability of a Chinese company to supply for Vernacare. A due diligence was conducted and visit to the facility in China was made by Sabre. Assessment and recommendations were provided to Vernacare. They have now successfully introduced the Chinese source of supply.