What to Know About Building a Supply Chain Control Tower

In our recurring Ask Our Experts feature, three Medline leaders tackle common customer questions from clinical, financial and operational perspectives.

Angela Carranza, MBA, CST, Medline Director of Clinical Solutions—Perioperative, Acute Care Sales

A supply chain control tower should do more than provide visibility, it should translate data into action. In healthcare, not all supply streams carry the same operational criticality, and the perioperative environment presents a unique opportunity to anticipate demand before it occurs. By integrating surgical schedules, procedural mix, surgeon preference cards, historical utilization patterns and supplier data, organizations can forecast demand with a high degree of confidence and align inventory, manufacturing and distribution decisions to upcoming clinical needs. When combined with real-time insights into supplier capacity, inventory availability, logistics and potential disruptions, a control tower enables proactive prioritization rather than reactive response. The greatest value lies not only in monitoring the supply chain but in translating clinical intent into supply chain action. This approach promotes having the right products available at the right time to support surgical continuity, operational resilience and ultimately, patient care.

Brian Wells, Medline Senior Vice President, Sales Operations

When considering a supply chain control tower, organizations should start by identifying the financial commitment and outcomes they expect to achieve. Key considerations include the upfront investment in expertise, technology and capabilities; the ongoing people, infrastructure and operating costs; and the integration costs necessary to connect internal systems with external partners. These costs may also include data or subscription fees and can vary based on the organization’s complexity and support required. To achieve the expected return, organizations must keep in mind the importance of strong change management, aligned external partnerships, access to the right information and clear agreement on the business problem the control tower is intended to solve. Without this focus, organizations risk higher costs, poor adoption and a control tower that falls short of expectations. When done well, a control tower can improve visibility, help teams manage risk proactively and deliver meaningful value across the end-to-end supply chain.

Dave Kordik, Medline Vice President, Customer Technology Solutions, Sales Operations

To establish a supply chain control tower, start by assembling the right cross-functional subject matter experts across operations, IT, analytics and clinical teams to ensure a balanced perspective. From there, develop a clear understanding of your data landscape—what data exists, where it resides, its quality and how it can be integrated to enable real-time visibility. Equally important is mapping your end-to-end supply chain processes, from sourcing through distribution and delivery. This helps identify gaps, dependencies and decision points. With these elements in place, you can begin building a “watch tower” capability—prioritizing actionable insights, exception management and proactive decision-making that drives resilience and performance across the supply chain.