Same-day
Scheduled routes, and the runs that were not scheduled.
Most weeks are routine. The value of an arrangement shows on the day that is not, when something is needed at a site nobody planned to visit.
A hospital that runs out of something does not need it tomorrow. A laboratory that has been sent the wrong kit cannot run the test until the right one arrives. Neither of those is a scheduling problem.
Routine route work and urgent work are usually sold as separate things by separate providers, which means the urgent call goes to whoever answers the phone rather than to someone who already knows the site, the product and the range it has to stay in. Running both means the unscheduled run is handled by people who were already handling your scheduled ones.
How it is set up
Four ways the same arrangement gets used.
Clients rarely want only one of these. The combination is what removes the gap between a routine week and a bad one.
Route based
A standing schedule for the collections and deliveries that happen every week. Predictable, planned in advance, and priced as a routine rather than as a series of one-off jobs.
On demand and STAT
The unscheduled run. Something is needed now, at a site that was not on any route this morning, and waiting for tomorrow is not an answer anyone can give.
Central supply
Stock held ready so an urgent request is picked and moving within the hour instead of being ordered, waited on, and then moved.
Pick, pack and deliver
Held stock selected to the order and packed for the journey it is about to make, so what leaves is what the request asked for.
Central supply
The fastest delivery is the one that starts from stock.
An urgent delivery is usually not urgent because of the transport. It is urgent because somebody discovered a shortage, and the clock started when the order was placed rather than when the van left.
Holding your stock with us removes that first stretch entirely. The item is already in the right range, in the right place, and an urgent request becomes a pick and a run. It also means you are not carrying the same buffer at every site.
Tell us what you would want held, how much of it, and how often it moves, and we will tell you whether central stocking makes sense for your volumes or whether you are better served by route work alone.
How stock is held and releasedQuestions
Asked before an urgent arrangement starts.
Not covered here? Ask us directly and you will get a straight answer.
What is the difference between route based and on demand?
Route based is a standing schedule for the movements that happen every week. On demand is the unscheduled run that comes up because something has gone wrong or a case has been brought forward. Most clients use both, and the route work is what makes the on-demand capacity worth having.
Can you hold our stock so urgent orders ship faster?
Yes. Central stocking is the point of the arrangement: if the item is already with us, an urgent request is a pick and a run, not a purchase order followed by a wait. Tell us what you would want held and in what quantity.
How quickly can you respond to an urgent request?
That depends on the route and the time of day, and we would rather tell you a figure we can hit every time than an impressive one we cannot. Send us the sites you need covered and the hours that matter and we will give you a window we will stand behind.
Do you cover weekends and out of hours?
Cover outside normal working hours needs to be arranged specifically rather than assumed. Tell us the pattern you need and we will be straight about what we can commit to.
Does urgent mean the handling standard drops?
No, and this is where urgent work usually goes wrong elsewhere. The temperature range is still agreed before collection and the packing is still chosen for the journey. Speed comes from planning and from stock being in the right place, not from skipping steps.
Contact
Tell us which sites and which hours.
Send the locations you need covered, the hours that matter and roughly how often the unscheduled runs happen. We will come back with a window we will stand behind.