Johannesburg, 14 May 2009
Specialist bar code printing solutions provider Spec Systems is making rapid progress with its contract to provide a turnkey solution to the Netcare Hospital Group, demonstrating its ability to implement a complete and fully-integrated system.
“This is very big installation for us,” says Nicolas Korff, Spec Systems' technical director. “Having to equip each of Netcare's 49 locations with all their bar code label printing needs will amount to around 180 printers.”
The contract for the bar code printers is running concurrently with the Netcare group rolling out a SAP hospital management system, and is one of the key reasons for Spec Systems winning the business.
“SAP only directly supports one bar code printer vendor in its Smart Forms module - that being Zebra printers, and we are the only authorised dealer for these printers in the country,” explains Korff. “This in-built functionality reduces integration time and ensures that the customer can work with full confidence that the output will be accurate and consistent.”
He says the Zebra printers' reliability and durability are two other key factors that lend them to the hospital environment that operates around the clock.
Spec Systems' turnkey solution therefore encompasses providing, installing and servicing the printers as well as supplying all consumables. “We offer a 24-hour response time and telephone support; a total solution in terms of auto identification.”
Korff explains that the bar code system is used to track the patient from admission, consultation, dispensary and theatre through to final billing. The system is also used to generate bar code labels for stock and equipment items.
“The hospital is therefore able to log the patient's progress all along this chain, which gives them a clear and immediate view that was never really possible before; and the barcode system is central to this working properly and accurately.
“This is a feather in our cap, considering the various demands of a hospital where every item has to be accounted for and correctly allocated to a specific patient, in the exact dosage.“
Leslie Graves, head of developing and maintaining Netcare's legacy hospital management system, says Spec Systems has pulled out all stops not only to meet the requirements of the contract, but to improve ease of use of the printers.
“From a service point of view they have been great and have come to the part as far as delivery is concerned,” she says. “We have been using the Zebra printers for about two years now, and Spec Systems has put in a lot of effort to make them user friendly in terms of the ease to change the ribbon, and have very few parts that can break.”
Korff says that designing, developing and implementing these organisation-wide bar code solutions is where Spec System has made its name.
“The strength of our solution is that we have many years of experience implementing our systems across many different industries. Integrating these systems, and doing the background programming to make them work efficiently, is one of our strong points.”
With another 18 months to complete the project, which is dependent on the SAP rollout, Korff is confident of being able to use the Netcare installation as a showpiece of Spec Systems' capabilities.
“This will not only give us a foothold in this sector, but also demonstrate our abilities to deliver and end-to-end system that is fully integrated with the customer's management system,” he says. “Automating identity management is not something which can be left to chance. All the components have to work together seamlessly for it to work effectively, and we've proven with this project that we can do that.”
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