technologyreview
BY DAVID MALONEY, SENIOR EDITOR
ship
shape
West International couldn’t
afford the complex IT
IF YOU’VE EVER BEEN TREATED FOR AN ILLNESS OR INJURY ABOARD
a cruise ship, you probably didn’t give much thought to where the Band-Aids or antihistamines came from. Even if you had, you’d probably have
assumed it was a regular medical supply house. But in all likelihood, the
supplier was a company like West International Medical Supplies—one of
a growing number of specialized distributors that focus on serving cruise
ships and other remote locations. That’s a bigger business than you might
expect. Today’s vessels boast full medical facilities: emergency first aid
suites, pharmacies, even operating rooms—everything a typical hospital
would have, except on a much smaller scale.
Established in 2008 as the U.S. arm of Britain-based L.E. West Ltd., West International maintains
offices and a distribution center near Fort Lauderdale in Davie, Fla. The advantages of being located in the Fort Lauderdale area, the heart of the cruise industry, are clear enough. “Our unique selling point is that we are in Florida, where every major cruise line has headquarters,” says Mark
Galluzzo, vice president of West International. “My major competitors are in New York and Seattle.”
But it also has its drawbacks. Florida has the strictest pedigree requirements for pharmaceutical
distribution of any state in the union. The state’s Prescription Drug Safety Act, which took effect
in 2006, requires distributors to track products down to the lot number and expiration date as they
flow through the supply chain. These stringent requirements caused approximately 1,200 pharmaceutical wholesalers to flee the state during the past five years.
Complying with the pedigree law requires robust software capable of gathering, tracking, and
sharing relevant data with customers and state regulators. That presented a problem for West
International. As a newcomer to the U.S. market, the company couldn’t afford the complex IT
infrastructure other pharmaceutical distributors use to meet these requirements. It would have to
systems needed for tracking
the meds it supplies to cruise
ships. Then it found an “on
demand” program that does
everything it needs and more.
