Dr. Jack Fan
The Challenge
The practice relied on big-name distributors who promised the lowest prices, but the reality was different — savings on some items were offset by inflated costs on others. In the end, total spending wasn’t going down and was sometimes even higher. The team also lacked flexibility: they were tied to one distributor’s inventory and schedule. The doctor was skeptical about switching to a multi-vendor marketplace, concerned about quality control and product storage conditions.
Chapters
(00:00) What was the problem before ZenOne?
(00:36) What was your initial reaction when you found ZenOne?
(01:18) What was the process like for getting started with ZenOne?
(01:59) What was the final result after you started using ZenOne?
What was the problem before ZenOne?
Well, before we will have these big distributors, the reps will come by, do a price analysis and all of them will promise us like the lowest price available. And at first it seemed alright, but then as you start to order more, you notice that, yeah, some items are of the lower price, but then they get it back through other things that we order. So at the end it does not lower our total purchase. And it ended up sometimes even being more expensive if I were just to look at it for elsewhere myself. So that seems to be the problem.
What was your initial reaction when you found ZenOne?
I mean, at first, to be honest, I was skeptical because I wasn’t sure whether the quality of these products, whether these distributors were able to get it to me on time, and if the products were kept in a proper setting. As you know, a lot of our dental supplies are very sensitive to temperature, to light, and if it’s not kept in the right conditions, it’s useless. So my first reaction was like, is this really possible? Having multiple distributors all in one marketplace? Is it better than just getting it from one source?
What was the process like for getting started with ZenOne?
The process was pretty easy. As soon as we set it up, I was able to look through it and find price comparisons from different warehouses that are providing and selling the same supplies. And it was quite an interesting and eye opening process to see that, wow, now I know how much profit margin these distributors are getting. And it was really easy, especially when the option opened up to have my assistant able to do the orders on my behalf and I put in orders and I just review. And that made things very streamlined.
What was the final result after you started using ZenOne?
Right now, Zen is working really well for us. It makes it very easy for us to order supplies. And we’re no longer restricted to one distributor and on their schedule because if something is out of stock, we can find from other distributors the same or similar products. And that made it very easy to control our inventory. And right now I have my assistants do all the ordering, all the inventory. And that just takes one thing off my plate.
