Customer Solution Case Study
/ / Pharma Major Consolidates Data on a Single Integrated Platform, Improves Efficiency
Overview
Country or region: India
Industry: Life Sciences
Customer Profile
Indoco Remedies is a Mumbai-based pharmaceutical company. It manufactures formulations and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). In 2009 -2010, the company’s annual revenues were to the tune of INR 402.30 crore.
Business Situation
Indoco was using legacy developed FoxPro based applications along with off-the-shelf sales & distribution and excise software applications. It sought to replace the outdated legacy system with globally accepted standard solution.
Solution
Microsoft® Gold Certified Partner, Blue Star Infotech assisted Indoco in deploying Microsoft® Dynamics™ NAV 5.0 to consolidate data in a single location and integrate all its work locations.
Benefits
Systemic enhancements bring efficiency and efficacy
Allows financial consolidation
Improves inventory management / “Time taken to consolidate financial information has been reduced significantly from 20 days to 10 days. Without Dynamics NAV, it would have been difficult to close the accounts in this time frame.”
Mr. Sundeep V. Bambolkar, Whole-time Director – Finance & Operations, Indoco Remedies Ltd
Mumbai-based Indoco Remedies, a midsize pharmaceutical company has a strong presence in India and internationally, with strong brand portfolio across various therapeutic segments. With approval of its Finished Dosage facilities by the US - FDA, Darmstadt – Germany, TGA Australia, MCC-South Africa and UK - MHRA, Indoco Remedies has emerged as the most suitable partner and provider of Contract Research and Manufacturing Services (CRAMS) to its customers globally. It manufactures and markets various pharmaceutical products including bulk drugs and formulations. Indoco owns seven state-of-art manufacturing facilities with 3000 employees. With a large, global presence, there was a clear need to upgrade and enhance its applications to manage all business processes. The company appointed Microsoft®Gold Certified partner, Blue Star Infotech to deploy Microsoft® Dynamics™ NAV 5.0 to have an integrated and orderly process flow, meet compliance regulations and ensure faster deliveries at lower cost. The solution has enhanced the operational efficiency and supports all the business units.
Situation
Under the able leadership of Mr. Suresh G. Kare, Chairman and Managing Whole-time Director, Indoco Remedies has scaled newer heights and is now a USD 100 million turnover organization with revenues slated to cross USD 125 million in 2010-11. Indoco has a strong brand portfolio of products in various therapeutic segments, including high growth life style segments such as anti-infectives, anti-diabetics, cardiovascular, opthal, dental care, pain management and respiratory. Top Indoco brands include Cyclopam, Vepan, Febrex Plus, ATM, Sensodent – K, Sensoform.
The company provides contract research and manufacturing services.
Indoco has Formulations (Finished Dosage Forms) and Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) manufacturing facilities in Goa, Baddi, Waluj, Rabale and Patalganga in India. Indoco also has a state-of-the-art research centre at Navi Mumbai with over 100 scientists.
Indoco has operations in Europe, United States, Asia, Africa, Latin America, and other Commonwealth of Independent States. It has won various awards and accolades.
Indoco was managing operations with the help of multiple FoxPro based in-house applications. With limited capabilities, each program sufficed the needs of only function and thus multiple programs were deployed to manage finance, inventory, purchase, travelling expenses, payroll, export-import modules etc. It used off-the-shelf Sales & Distribution application from SpecraSoft Technologies and excise software module from Computer Aided Management Services (India) Pvt. Ltd. Because of all these standalone applications, it required manual data transfer which resulted in duplication, error-prone information amongst other issues.
As updating data was tedious, it was done each week for the sales information, and once in a month for financial information such as accounts, inventory and distribution. Thus real time information was not available. In addition, financial and production information was manually consolidated at the head office in Mumbai. By the time, the information reached the top management; it was outdated; resulting in delayed business decisions. Concurrently administrative cost was high.
Solution
IT team at Indoco considered multiple solutions available in the market like Oracle, SAP and few local ERPs but systematic analysis proved that most of these were complex, difficult to implement, and did not satisfy the quality requirements in terms of materials management and quality assurance. Then Microsoft Dynamics NAV was analyzed because it had a strong brand and was widely used across the country. “The solution offers strong security measures, good reporting tools and mapping tools with other Microsoft products for export and import of data,” explains Mr. Sundeep V. Bambolkar, Whole-time Director – Finance & Operations, Indoco Remedies Ltd. “The integrated platform promises quick implementation with best industry practices.”
Microsoft® Gold Certified Partner, Blue Star Infotech supported Indoco in quick and hassle free implementation of Microsoft Dynamics NAV 5.0. It was business as usual for Indoco even during the implementation phase. The implementation started in January 2009. Though the solution went live in July 2009 but the customizations and stabilization continued till February 2010. The solution was implemented at factory locations in Goa, Waluj, Baddi, Patalganga,Rabale and at head office in Mumbai. It was deployed for 61 users. Modules implemented were Financial Management, Purchase and Payables, Sales and Receivables, Warehousing activities, Manufacturing and Fixed Assets. The solution was specially tailored to meet the requirements of pharmaceutical industry to provide specific features such as cGMP compliance, excise, Sales & Distribution integration and auto bank reconciliation etc.
“After deploying Microsoft Dynamic NAV, all our business operations are automated. It tracks financials, inventory, sales and warehousing activities through reports, automating every step of the process,” states Mr. Sundeep V. Bambolkar, Whole-time Director – Finance & Operations, Indoco Remedies Ltd. The solution also facilitates the generation of standard cost sheet and margin statement and printing cheque with multi- line data. All the requirements are fulfilled to meet regulatory compliances.
Benefits
Microsoft Dynamics NAV improves agility and flexibility to adapt, to meet the ever changing needs. “The solution facilitates efficient management of product-related information, resulting in faster deliveries and lower costs,” says Mr. Sundeep V. Bambolkar, Whole-time Director – Finance & Operations, Indoco Remedies Ltd.
Systemic Enhancements Bring Efficiency and Efficacy
All processes and information on a single solution leads to a more systematic, centralized, integrated process flow. The solution has centralized the data and operations along with the users to a single location. “With real time information at hand, the answers to critical business questions are available quickly without shifting through reams of data,” states Mr. Sundeep V. Bambolkar, Whole-time Director – Finance & Operations, Indoco Remedies Ltd.
Data duplication and communication gaps have been reduced considerably. Managers exert more control due to centralized server and things can be monitored easily. Mr. Sundeep V. Bambolkar, Whole-time Director – Finance & Operations, Indoco Remedies Ltd continues, “Efficient authentication and authorization levels help in implementing proper data security and quick decision making.”
With global best practices incorporated into the organization’s business processes, Mr. Sundeep V. Bambolkar, Whole-time Director – Finance & Operations, Indoco Remedies Ltd. says, “The efficient management of sales and distribution network ensures better resource utilization and operational efficiency.”
Allows Financial Consolidations
Prior to implementation, financial data was maintained in multiple directories in Fox pro applications. With integrated factory locations and head office, manual financial consolidation is a thing of past. With remote location connectivity, updated business and financial information is always available online across locations.Improved financial reporting, auto bank reconciliation, profit and loss analysis etc. helps the management to keep an eye on the health of the business.
By tracking each item’s costs throughout the production process, the company is managing its costs and pricing better. “We have an accurate figure for the cost of goods sold (COGS). With such information, we can bring efficiency into the process, eventually increasing profitability,” explains Mr. Sundeep V. Bambolkar, Whole-time Director – Finance & Operations, Indoco Remedies Ltd.
He adds “Time taken to consolidate financial information has been reduced significantly from 20 days to 10 days. Without the support of NAV, it would have been difficult to close the accounts in this time frame.”
Improves Inventory Management
With online inventory information, transparency and visibility has improved to a great extent. The operations team tracks and manages inventory by location as it goes through the production life cycle. “Better information on inventory statistics and valuation further reduce the inventory carrying cost,” Mr. Sundeep V. Bambolkar, Whole-time Director – Finance & Operations, Indoco Remedies Ltd. It also ensures improved coordination amongst sales and production teams.
Microsoft Dynamics
Microsoft Dynamics is a line of integrated, adaptable business management solutions that enables you and your people to make business decisions with greater confidence. Microsoft Dynamics works like familiar Microsoft software such as Microsoft Office, which means less of a learning curve for your people, so they can get up and run quickly to focus on what’s most important. And because it is from Microsoft, it easily works with the systemsthat your company already has implemented. By automating and streamlining financial, customer relationship, and supply chain processes, Microsoft Dynamics brings together people, processes, and technologies, increasing the productivity and effectiveness of your business, and helping you drive business success.
For more information about Microsoft Dynamics, go to:
About Blue Star Infotech
Established in 1983 and part of the Blue Star Group of Companies, Blue Star Infotech is a global provider of product development services, enterprise solutions and services, travel technology solutions and testing services. With operations in North America, Europe, UK, Japan and India, it delivers high-performance technology-based services by adopting a partnering approach with its clients. Its dual expertise in building software products for industry leaders and IT solutions brings into play a set of unique capabilities and solutions that increases certainty of technology initiatives. Blue Star Infotech has been ranked 12th amongst the top fifteen global R&D Service providers by Zinnov Management Consulting Pvt. Ltd, in a first-of-its-kind ranking of the Top Global Outsourced Product Development service providers across geographies such as India, China and Eastern Europe.