How Fleury brings its suppliers on board to improve business operations

Seeing innovation as a leverage for change, the Brazilian Fleury Group currently has 2,500 stakeholders involved in its innovation efforts. They have shared almost 3,000 ideas, of which close to a third have been implemented, generating 4.3 million reais of aggregated value in the last two years alone (approximately 900,000 euros).

The results were presented in a conference organised by the Fleury Group to discuss “Intrapreneurship and Open Innovation”, in São Paulo, on November 23rd. The company, one of the largest groups of clinical analysis services in Latin America, gathered key suppliers and several companies to share knowledge and experience on open innovation and intrapreneurship initiatives.

Spreading healthcare innovation

In 2011, the Fleury Group introduced Central de Ideias, an innovation program supported by an Exago solution, to unlock the innovation potential of Fleury’s workforce, aimed at improving internal processes, employee well-being and customer service, as well as its medical and technical procedures. Central de Ideias helped the Fleury Group reach the top 5 shortlist for the international 2015 IMP³rove Award.

In 2012, Fleury decided to also involve its suppliers in its innovation challenges, also using Exago. PERC, the Supply Chain Relationship Excellence Program, was developed to expand these efforts further, using a multicentric and multidisciplinary innovation approach. PERC ensures a closer relationship between Fleury and its supply chain, recognising the suppliers with the best performance over the course of the year.

With its comprehensive idea management programme, the Fleury Group seeks to apply practical and technical solutions that bring change to products, processes and services within the organisation or in specific areas that accumulate value – by generating revenue, reducing costs and improving people’s experience.

Founded in 1926, Fleury is one of the largest and most respected Brazilian healthcare companies. With close to 10,000 employees and more than 200 healthcare units across the country, the national leader of the premium segment in Diagnostic Medicine invests heavily in R&D and applying state-of-the-art technology across its business chain.