Rhythm Healthcare increases efficiencies

ST. PETERSBURGH, Fla. – Rhythm Healthcare has added a third distribution center in Ontario, Calif., allowing the company to better serve and grow its customer base in the western United States, says Doug Francis. 

The 20,000-square-foot facility joins existing facilities in St. Petersburgh, Fla., and Memphis, Tenn. 

“This allows us to open up California, Arizona, the Pacific Northwest,” said Francis, president and CEO. “I’m not saying we didn’t have a few customers in those areas, but we can’t serve them efficiently. We’d get product into California and have to ship it to Florida or Tennessee, then ship it back to customers in California. Now we can store products there and ship from there.” 

Rhythm Healthcare also recently moved into a larger facility in Memphis, nearly doubling its square footage to 60,000. 

Securing a facility in California wasn’t easy, Francis says, with countless companies wanting to get close to the Port of Los Angeles to better navigate supply chain challenges. 

“The market is red hot,” he said. “We happened to land on a space and there were a lot of companies lined up for it. It was a bit of a bidding war.” 

Rhythm Healthcare is now focused on, first, better serving existing customers in the western United States and, second, building a commercial operation to increase business from that area, Francis says. 

“We’re not trying to take over the world,” he said. “Those we do business with, we want to be good for them. We want to limit back orders and manage the supply chain for higher fill rates, consistent supply and predicable pricing.”  

Rhythm Healthcare has one more area it would like to expand to, Francis says: the Northeast. 

“That’s the missing link and what will compete us,” he said. “Our next expansion, probably in 2023, will be Georgia or New Jersey – somewhere on the East Coast.”