At MarathonLS, it is our mission to listen to the needs and feedback of our customers and to then deliver solutions that combat those challenges. Marathon Pacer, our uniquely tailored VMI (vendor managed inventory) program, was built from the diligent feedback and advisory of lab operations teams, scientists and finance teams. As a result, we have created an inventory management program that satisfies the objectives and exceeds the expectations of all of key stakeholders. Marathon is happy to share exciting updates to Marathon Pacer.
Marathon Pacer is based on four core pillars of success: diverse products and brands, experienced support teams, technology, and off-site storage management.
Diverse Products and Brands
The Pacer team will purchase whichever products your scientists prefer on your behalf. At Marathon, we understand that scientists have preferences when it comes to the lab products they use. Scientists can try something new, or stick with what they know. Marathon has a portfolio of high quality and in stock lab consumables, most of which are made in the USA. Marathon also has the relationships, market insights, and negotiating power with top consumables manufacturers so that your team of scientists have exactly what they need, when they need it to keep research moving forward.
The Pacer purchasing team is continuously looking for product deals and low rates to save money for your lab and actively mitigates the risk of backorders by offering in-stock alternative products. Here’s what customers say about our solutions:
“The team that we have been provided, they all think ahead when it comes to where the situation is. They have gone above and beyond when it comes to something that have may become a stockout, they say, ‘hey this Marathon product is in stock, are you willing to give a shot in order to make sure you have stock?’ and we’ll order that … And literally, they take it from the Canton warehouse and deliver it here by hand … it’s completely amazing.”
Experience Support Teams
The Marathon Pacer team has over 125 years of combined experience in the areas of demand planning, logistics and supply chain and financial management. The Pacer team collaborates with your team to understand your operational and financial goals and create a tailored solution to enable inventory management best practices within your lab.
Our team of Pacer Success Managers directly manages your inventory through regularly scheduled on-site visits and are always on call for support. Initial on-site support includes organization of your storeroom and points of use, accounting for missing or expired products, and ensuring your lab space is stocked and arranged to its most efficient potential. Their regular on-site visits include stocking, counting, organizing and receiving. The Pacer Success Managers continuously evaluate the overall status of your lab and work alongside you, to ensure your needs and wants are met.
Technology
Marathon has developed a software exclusively used with Pacer to offer real time visibility to inventory and key product metrics. The software offers dashboards including stock details, suggested orders, inventory on hand and inventory changes. All of these reports inform charts and graphs where you can see the quantity of products on hand as well as how much capital is tied up in each product. The Pacer software dashboard ensures the convenience, ease and transparency to real time inventory so that there are never disruptions to workflows within labs.
Off-site Storage Management
Lab space and benches are not cheap. Too often, we see these spaces misused as overflow storage space. Partnering with Pacer prolongs your cashflow runway as it has proven to save our clients on average, $200,000 per year in costs associated with storage, headcount, expediting fees and lost productivity. The majority of these savings come from reclaiming premium real estate for laboratory bench space, instead of storage. Pacer allows you to keep the ideal number of products on-site and store your safety stock in one of our local warehouses. The Pacer team will deliver products as needed based on just-in-time inventory methodologies.
Begin Your Journey
Marathon has built Pacer through diligent feedback and advisory of both lab operations teams and finance teams. Pacer has created a solution that satisfies the objectives of these key stakeholders. Our customers have shared with us that Marathon has created an inventory management program that they had always hoped for. To begin your journey with Marathon Pacer, schedule a discovery workshop today.
