(2/2022) Since it was founded in 1972, the megro purchasing cooperative, headquartered in Wesel, has developed into a medical technology wholesaler, which has not only become a reliable supplier, but also a logistics and marketing partner for many. On the eve of the 50th anniversary, which will be celebrated next year, the MTD editorial team spoke to managing director Helmut Krebber and authorized signatory/sales manager Sebastian Letz about the latest developments at megro.
Mr. Krebber, in 1972, nine specialist dealers in medical technology came together to form megro. Today, almost 50 years later, the purchasing cooperative is a wholesaler for medical products. How many shareholders do you currently have and how many specialist trade customers do you supply?
Helmut Krebber: We currently have six shareholders (Akula, Caspar & Co. Group, Chiromed, Medipha, Rudi Müller, Rudschuck). We also supply around 2,500 customers in Germany, including specialist retailers, medical supply stores and pharmacies. There are also around 800 customers in other European countries.
On the subject of business development, Mr. Letz: What are the sales figures, which divisions are strongest and how many employees does megro have?
Sebastian Letz: Business is developing well. In recent years we have been able to continuously increase our sales. Traditionally, our main product lines are "around the doctor": hygiene, bandages (consultation needs), small furniture, small devices such as sterilizers, etc. Last year, of course, our main focus was on so-called corona articles such as disinfectants and dispensers, gloves, masks, etc. We have attached particular importance to working with long-standing partners in procurement. Quality comes before price here, we deliberately avoided spot business to ensure continuous supply to our long-standing customers. We have about 100 employees, about half of whom work in logistics. Of course, we have also been a training company for decades. We are currently training six young people to become warehouse logistics specialists and merchants in wholesale and foreign trade management.
Let's stick to the numbers: in 2017, megro expanded the central warehouse in Wesel for around 1.6 million euros in order to further optimize the logistics processes and the ability to deliver. Where do you stand today in terms of infrastructure? Have there been any recent investments?
Krebber: The investment in expanding our storage capacity in 2017 was necessary because it was exhausted. This was the only way we could optimize our logistics processes. But we don't stand still, an internal logistics team regularly scrutinizes all processes and initiates improvements. One example of this is the optimization of storage space. We have also invested in the fabric of the building this year
