Not long ago, next-day delivery in healthcare was considered exceptional service. Today, it’s the floor. As care shifts outside traditional settings — into clinics, homes, pharmacies and field sites — the logistics demands behind the scenes have become radically compressed. Fulfillment windows are shorter. Product integrity stakes are higher. And the supply chain links in the middle, particularly warehouse operations, are feeling the pressure.
The industry is moving fast. Analysts project the global medical supply delivery market will reach USD 63.4 billion this year, climbing at over 10% annually through 2034. Behind that growth is a surge in e-pharmacy services, specialty medicines, decentralized trials and home-based care — all of which depend on reliable, same-day fulfillment to function safely and efficiently.
That pressure is translating to real impact on the ground. A recent survey in American Nurse Journal found 83% of nurses say timely delivery directly affects their ability to care for patients. Over half have had to reschedule or adjust procedures due to delivery failures. These aren’t inefficiencies — they’re avoidable risks. Every late or inaccurate shipment can compromise treatment, force overtime or delay diagnoses.
Legacy systems are falling short
Yet most legacy fulfillment infrastructure isn’t built to respond. On-premise warehouse management systems are often rigid, siloed and slow to adapt. In healthcare, that lack of agility is a liability. Providers face strict SLAs that demand same-day shipment for the majority of orders. Many still receive instructions mid-afternoon and must pack, verify and ship inventory within two to three hours. There’s no room for bottlenecks, let alone mistakes.
Accuristix knows this well. As Canada’s leading healthcare-focused third-party logistics provider, the company handles over $7 billion in annual product volume across more than one million square feet of warehouse space. But despite its scale, its real differentiator lies in its precision. More than 90% of its clients require same-day shipping. Cutoff windows are tight — often as narrow as three hours from receipt to outbound dock. And many products they move — vaccines, controlled substances, investigational therapies — carry steep compliance and cold chain requirements.
To meet those demands, Accuristix turned to Tecsys' cloud-based WMS platform. The shift enabled:
- Real-time inventory visibility across all seven of its warehouses
- Streamlined order orchestration
- Built-in compliance tracking down to the unit level
Critically, the system could be adapted quickly as regulatory needs changed or new workflows were required — a level of flexibility their legacy systems couldn’t touch. Unifying warehouse operations under a single, cloud-based WMS eliminated silos while enabling continuous optimization.
The result was a 90% same-day ship rate, with 99.98% order accuracy. That level of performance didn’t happen in isolation — it was engineered, monitored and continuously improved through cloud-native infrastructure designed for agility.
These aren’t abstract gains. For Accuristix, faster fulfillment translates to fewer missed flights, less product waste and more reliable patient outcomes. It also strengthens their partnerships with leading pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers, who increasingly view logistics providers not as vendors, but as extensions of their brand and care delivery.
For organizations still running on aging systems, the message is clear: same-day fulfillment is an operational imperative. It requires warehouse operations that are integrated, intelligent and capable of scaling to meet healthcare’s pace. Increasingly, that means moving to a cloud-based WMS that can flex as business and compliance needs evolve.
Read the full case study to see how Accuristix built a healthcare logistics engine ready for whatever comes next.