IVC needed a way to standardise stock control across 1,000+ practices while keeping clinics operational and focused on patient care.
IVC Evidensia is Europe’s fastest-growing veterinary group, bringing together more than 1,000 practices with a shared mission to improve animal care through collaboration, scale, and clinical excellence.
As the group expanded, maintaining consistent operational control across practices became increasingly complex, particularly in areas traditionally managed through manual processes.
IVC carried out a full pharmacy stock count twice a year across its UK practices. Each count relied on manual processes, with stock recorded locally in spreadsheets and collated centrally.
This approach had become unsustainable at scale:
Practices were effectively closed to routine appointments while stock was counted
Hundreds of hours were spent counting stock across pharmacies, cupboards, vehicles, outbuildings, and operating theatres
Central teams required significant temporary resource to review, validate, and consolidate data from over 1,000 locations
Inconsistent data and outdated product records reduced confidence in reported figures
Lost sales occurred as clinical staff were diverted away from patient care
IVC needed a way to standardise stock counting, reduce disruption to practices, and restore confidence in stock data across the group.
Simportal worked closely with the IVC team to review requirements and design a solution that could operate reliably across a highly distributed clinical environment.
Rather than forcing practices into a rigid system, the solution was designed around how stock was actually counted and managed on the ground. This included selecting appropriate scanning hardware, designing a simple and guided user interface, and ensuring the system could operate fully offline, removing reliance on WiFi connectivity.
By supporting IVC in the selection of scanning hardware, Simportal reduced the approved capital budget by £600k.
Standard operating procedures were embedded directly into the stock count process through a step-by-step workflow. Training was supported through videos, downloadable guides, and clear on-screen instructions, allowing practices with varying levels of technical confidence to adopt the system quickly.
A central product file was introduced, enabling consistent item identification and centrally managed pricing updates across all practices.
• Stock counting time reduced by over 90 percent
• 97 percent stock count completion rate across practices
• All stock data consolidated into a single, accessible system
• £600k capital expenditure avoided through hardware optimisation
By improving operational control, IVC was able to carry out stock takes without closing practices or disrupting clinical care. This enabled stock counting to be completed twice per year across the group, contributing to an estimated £3m increase in annual sales by keeping practices operational during stock take periods.
The availability of accurate, centralised stock data has also had real clinical impact. In one instance, a critically needed medication that was unavailable locally was quickly located at two nearby practices and transferred in time to support life-saving treatment.