Marketing Plan

Running head: Draft 1 1

Draft 1 4

Draft 1-Marketing Plan

Group 4-

Crystal Arzola

Edwin Brannan

Levi Clark

Jennifer Hardy

Brodee Whichard

Liberty University

Draft 1-Marketing Plan

Company Description

Owens and Minor was established by cofounders Otho O. Owens and G. Gilmer Minor in 1882 to provide healthcare services for the local Richmond community. What started as a drugstore, in a now historic landmark, quickly grew to buy out competitor drugstore Bodeker Drug Company in 1954. With this acquisition, the company briefly changed names to Owens, Minor & Bodeker, commonly known in that day as OMB. In present day Owens and Minor has surpassed any expectations that the origins of the business would ever suggest. Employment numbers sit roughly at about eighteen thousand, while the customer base has reached out as far as ninety different countries. Owens and Minor accomplished consistent business growth by not ever remaining stagnant. An example of this is seen in the company’s change of focus coming in 1999. From the company’s humble beginnings of providing drug products to the community, it developed into more of a business of medical supply chain management. Coming with the business’ rebranding, the company introduced a consulting service, which at that time was innovative for a distribution servicer. The most recent venture of business growth, coming in 2018, was Owen and Minor’s purchase of Halyard Health’s business. Throughout the business’ existence it has remained centered on its customer base. Even present day their company outline states that “We provide sustainable supply chain, product and patient solutions that lower total costs and improve quality of care across the continuum of care.” (Owens & Minor, 2019). Owens and Minor’s business model has always aimed to systematically remove complexity from their services in an attempt to maximize efficiency and cost-effectiveness, allowing the business to grow while continuing their trend of putting customers first. Given the company’s growth patterns, their expansion strategy has been widely successful.

Strategic Focus

The Owens and Minor mission statement is “to serve the healthcare industry with dedication, innovation, and a passion for excellent customer service” (Owens-Minor, 2019). The company started in 1882 during the period when antiseptic surgery was in its infancy stage. What started as a drug store in Richmond, Virginia, has grown to a full line of medical distribution, supply, and inventory management company. Owens and Minor serves drug stores to hospitals, medical transportation, as well as inventory management solutions for various supply chains. Ultimately the end user of their products would be anyone seeking healing or in need of medical attention or medical supplies.

They hosted the first healthcare supplier symposium giving way to diversity and innovation in the medical supplier field. Their vision is one that pairs quality and value in the medical field, “we see a future where healthcare delivers on quality of care and financial value” (Owens-Minor, 2019). The use of technology is a driving force behind their vision for the future of the company. Through innovative technology breakthroughs they strive to make inventory and distribution more effective while cutting costs.

Company Goals

Company goals for Owens and Minor include meeting and exceeding customer expectations, narrowing adjusted income per share range, selling more products, and investing back into the company. Edward Pesicka, President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), states “We continued to improve our service levels in the second quarter and are meeting or exceeding most customer expectations. Finally, we continue to focus on productivity and efficiency initiatives to drive operating improvement” (Owens and Minor, 2019). Improving customer relations, productivity, and efficiency will move the company closer to its financial goals. They plan to achieve their goals by offering lower costs to its customers and providing global support in the form of services and innovative solutions. Secondly, Owens and Minor remains committed to delivering surgical and infection prevention products that are superior to their competitors.

From a financial standpoint the company is seeking to reduce costs and become more efficient . “For 2019, the company is narrowing its adjusted net income per share guidance range to $0.60 to $0.70, which excludes the impact of currency” (Owens and Minor, 2019). Cost reduction efforts are focused towards precise inventory management. Previously, the company dedicated its attention strictly patient care and the patient. In regard to company investments, Board of Directors Chairman Robert Sledd asserts “Long-term success depends on a thoughtful balance of short and long-term investments so we will invest in the company for 2019 and beyond” (Owen and Minor, 2019). Owens and Minor will continue to invest in Fusion5 technologies to provide a value-based payment services and solution for their customers. Their partnership with Fusion5 provides improved quality, management of payments, shared risk contracts, and a reduction in cost. Long-term investments into Fusion5 are projected to increase profitability, allowing Owens and Minor to focus on other company goals such as inventory management.

Core Competencies and Sustainable Competitive Advantage

Owens and Minor provide value-addition to their clients through their services. The company is able to fill the gap in replenishment and reverse logistics which is great support for manufacturers. Secondly, the company is compliant and quality assessors through their procedures and services to ensure they meet state and federal regulatory requirements and quality control assurance. Thirdly, the company supports healthcare manufactures through financial transactions and ordering through use of other order-to-cash processes and customer relationship management. Fourthly, the company has succeeded in their supply chain management through promoting supplier diversity for the benefit of healthcare institutions and also producing their private label products called Medi Choice. Fifthly, the company is strategic through its partnership with diversity suppliers who support them in innovation and diversification.

Having a sustainable competitive advantage is key when trying to market a new product. Our product will sustain a competitive advantage by being the first of its kind. Due to the fact that the pediatric RN does not have feeding tubes for babies, Owens and Minor will be the first to offer this as a product. This will draw the attention of other medical facilities and want to use our product. We can also market this product at a reasonable price, while providing a unique service that has not been done yet.

References Kerin, Roger A. & Hartley, Steven W. (2020). Marketing: The Core, Eighth Edition. New York, NY. McGraw-Hill Education.

Owens & Minor, Inc. (2019) Retrieved from: https://www.owens-minor.com