We are fully committed to supporting you in the global fight against the coronavirus
A commitment that we don't take lightly
How Corona Changed Everything
When corona came everything changed. The work of medical professionals became more demanding and more relvant than ever. Caring for patients and protecting staff at the same time became a real challenge.
Manufacturers and suppliers were also overrun by the sudden rush for critical supplies and medical products.
We were faced with a dilemma: remove difficult to procure products from our range or find new ways to keep on supplying them during the crisis.
Here is an overview of how we succeeded and what measures we have taken along the way.
Ensuring Availability of Supplies
We decided to do everything we could to keep providing you with all the products you need for good medical practice: through new supply chains, new suppliers - and even chartering our own cargo flights.
Overnight we were suddenly one of the few specialist retailers who had any critical products in stock at all and who were fighting to keep the supply chain going. Within weeks we became one of the largest suppliers to crisis centres across Europe on a previously unimaginable scale.
None of this was easy and we had to learn as we went along, and customers occasionally had to put up with longer delays.
What we have done to make sure you continue to receive the best service possible
Sustainable Solutions
All Set
Even if Corona is no longer the dominant topic, we want to be prepared. The developments of the last few months have shown how quickly situations can change. Because of this, we continue to keep a large stock of personal protective equipment as well as syringes and rapid tests in order to be able to react at short notice.
Think Global Act Local
At the beginning of the pandemic international supply chains collapsed virtually overnight - and protective equipment in particular became a scarce commodity. Export bans, lack of transport capacities and quarantine rules for truck drivers presented us with unprecedented problems. The pandemic was a stark reminder of our dependence on imports and how vulnerable this makes us.
To counteract supply chain dependency in the future we developed Praxisdienst Local: our new concept for local manufacturers and start-ups in the medical technology and supply sector. In this way, we are both supporting our local economy and doing our bit for the environment - as well as reducing the risk of supply shortages.
FAQs
We process incoming orders on the same working day.
As a rule, orders received by us on a working day by around 3 p.m. are handed over to the parcel services or forwarding agents on the same day.
Orders received after 3 p.m. are processed in the night shift and handed over the next morning. Orders received at the weekend are processed during the night from Sunday to Monday.
For particularly urgent orders, we also offer the option of express delivery or delivery from our own delivery service Praxisdienst NOW in many regions.
Your user account always has up-to-date information on the delivery status of your orders.
When your shipment leaves our logistics centre, you will be informed by e-mail or, if desired, by SMS.
If there are any delays or delivery problems, our customer service team will be happy to help via chat, email or telephone.
There are currently no major supply bottlenecks.
The Chinese zero-Covid strategy is causing genuine supply chain problems. Complete lockdowns can be imposed on entire regions at short notice, leaving both manufacturers and logistics companies increasingly affected. Production of goods can be postponed by weeks due to closed factories. Goods that have already been produced are also affected, as they cannot be shipped out due to the closure of seaports and airports.
These problems all add up to create a tense raw material situation and insufficient transport capacities.
Having already been faced with this situation at the begining of the pandemic, we have developed alternative sources of supply outside China, in as far as this is possible. As a result, we are generally well-stocked in all product areas. However, although numerous western manufacturers produce medical devices and consumables, China remains the world’s largest medical goods exporter. For the time being, the technical and production capacities to produce all the products concerned outside of China are simply not available.
We are striving to master the situation, but are expecting bottlenecks in some areas, which unfortunately cannot be predicted due to lockdown measures in China being imposed at such short notice. We have however, put in robust supply chain management measures and massively expanded inventories in recent months to buffer any potential disruptions.