MIDDLE EAST
REGIONAL
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MID DLE EAST
needed to control purchasing cycles and
streamline incoming inventory management.
“We required a system that would allow
us to minimise the effort and cost of affixing
labels – sometimes four different labels need
to be on each incoming part container,” said
Kayyali. He added that errors in the starting
material and resulting mix-ups and delays
in order deliveries, were also risks faced by
Pharma’s employees, prior to digitisation.
Fit, support and ease – the
deciding factors
Over a 12 to 15-month period, Kayyali’s team
assessed many globally recognised vendors.
Epicor partner, Full Insight Technology
Solutions (FITS), introduced the best solution
for Pharma’s growth ambitions – Epicor ERP
– a platform that was easy to install, easy to
use and with functionality that had a tight fit
with the group’s requirements.
A key element of Epicor ERP that
impressed Pharma’s procurement team
was the audit trail. Each critical transaction
could be traceable, detailing the name of
the user, the date and time of action and its
impact on the business. Pharma’s labelling
problem was also addressed by the Epicor
solution, adding more control for purchased
and manufactured parts. “The new system
requires a single label containing a 2D
barcode, which saves and reflects the
container status as ‘approved’, ‘rejected’,
‘booked for job’, etc.,” he said. “Quantity of
parts at any moment is also stored in the
ERP system. In addition, the solution helps to
eliminate the risk of a mix-up.”
Pharma’s decision makers were also
drawn to the ease of use of Epicor ERP, both
technically and from an end user point of
view, citing its user-friendly interface as a
particular boon to operational efficiency.
They were further impressed by the
support offered by Epicor partner, FITS.
“As a pharmaceutical company, we were
looking for a partner who could understand
our needs and industry, provide thorough
documentation and professional technical
and functional training and support,” Kayyali
explained. “FITS was the only candidate
that offered documentation that met our
expectations. It was looking to build a
success case, rather than just make money.”
Implementing strong inventory and
monitoring capabilities
Implementation took 10 months and Epicor
ERP was rolled out to 15 users. Pharma began
Partnering with a
vendor that strives to
deliver a successful
implementation and
offers whatever is
needed to sustain
the ERP platform
is sometimes more
important than the
application itself.
to see benefits immediately on going live. The
linking of department transactions via a single
database, the introduction of 2D barcoding in
the group’s inventory system and the ability
to track everything easily were considered
the most important value-adds.
“We ended up saving about 30% of
unnecessary warehouse-team transactions,”
said Kayyali. “We managed to reduce the
time taken to find or track an historical data
record or transaction, from hours or days
to seconds or minutes. We reduced the risk
of mix-up, which is critical in the pharma
industry. We eliminated the risk of using an
invalid or expired part as a starting material.
Having a validated ERP system helps us also
meet the expectations of medicinal product
agencies, both in the Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia and around the world.”
Kayyali fully expects Epicor ERP to
serve Pharma as a platform for growth. He
hinted at plans in the pipeline, to launch new
services for the group’s sales function and
introduce other Epicor ERP modules, including
budgeting. “Partnering with a vendor that
strives to deliver a successful implementation
and offers whatever is needed to sustain the
ERP platform is sometimes more important
than the application itself. I couldn’t be
happier with our selection of Epicor and
look forward to a fruitful partnership as we
embark on our ambitious growth journey,”
concluded Kayyali. •
INTELLIGENT TECH CHANNELS
INTELLIGENT
TECH CHANNELS Issue 31
25