Merck South Africa, the pharmaceuticals, chemical and laboratory supplies group, has named Associated Computer Solutions (ACS), a subsidiary of JSE securities exchange-listed Glotec, its Central Functions supplier of the year for the third time.
Merck makes the award in five categories: Pharmaceutical Division, Laboratory Supplies Division, Merck Generics, Merck Pharmaceutical Manufacturing and Central Functions.
"Our objective with the awards is to build a good relationship with our suppliers so if there is a problem of either our or their making, we know they will sort it out quickly and efficiently," says Deon Vos, Merck South Africa Chief Executive. "It goes without saying that the service must be good."
Suppliers in each category complete a critical evaluation programme that evaluates them according to consistent commitment to service excellence, quality, competitive pricing, professionalism, know-how and expertise.
"Due to the high standard of service received from our suppliers, it is always a close margin between the Supplier of the Year and those who are runners up for this award. As in our other divisions we have very special suppliers in our central departments whose dedication and commitment have allowed us to meet and exceed our customers` expectations," says Heidi le Roux, inventory and quality manager at Merck South Africa.
ACS has been supplying technology to 33-year-old Merck South Africa for almost 10 years. Merck South Africa more recently became one of the first local pharmaceutical and chemical groups to outsource its pharmaceutical logistics, warehouse management and distribution functions to a third-party organisation. As a consequence, it has enjoyed cost savings and seen an improvement in its business process within its pharmaceutical division.
Enabling this change at the R300 million turnover a year business, was the implementation of a data warehouse running against a third-party system, with both the data warehouse and Merck`s acs-EMBRACE ERP system drawing data from external systems to balance debtors and inventory on a daily basis.
"The integration we have created between acs-EMBRACE, SAP R/3 and Cognos is a first, in my experience," says Paul Palm, IT manager at Merck South Africa.
"Winning the Central Functions supplier of the year award is a great honour for ACS and reaffirms our commitment to adding value to our customers` business and building long-term, mutually beneficial relationships with them," says Mike Stefanksi, MD of ACS.
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