Novartis Consumer Health, a manufacturer of nutritional and self-medication products, has gone live with BPCS 6.0.0.2, the ERP software distributed locally by Armada/SSA. This has resulted in increased efficiencies in materials management and Year 2000 compliancy for Novartis.
Novartis Consumer Health is a division of Novartis, an international pharmaceutical company which markets well known brands such as Ovaltine, Salusa 45 and Nicotinell. Novartis was formed through the 1997 merger of Sandoz and Ciba-Geigy and is the third largest pharmaceutical company in the world with annual turnover of $21 billion.
"Internationally there is a trend towards self-medication with the emphasis on preventative rather than curative medication," says Atha Zachas, financial manager at Novartis, and co-ordinator of the steering committee responsible for the implementation of BPCS. "This trend is more cost-effective and we are always trying to make our products available at prices all South Africans can afford."
Novartis`s old system was changed over the years in order to keep up with increasingly sophisticated materials handling and manufacturing requirements, as well as outsourcing of key functions. An urgent need existed for upgraded software that incorporated all the additional features for the whole process, from ordering raw materials, formulation, factory process, packaging and warehousing.
BPCS was chosen because it is widely used in the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry. Novartis Consumer Health in Switzerland also uses it and this has facilitated quick and accurate reporting at international level.
"The design of BPCS is based on inventory and manufacturing processes, not on financial processes like most other ERP software. This means it is ideally suited to our business and we did not have to customise it," says Melissa Fisher, the project leader and accountant responsible for the implementation.
BPCS has been installed on an AS/400 and is accessed with a Windows 95 client. The division`s administrative head office is located in Sandton and the server is housed at the Spartan factory. The project took nine months for full implementation. Two full-time consultants from Armada SSA worked with Novartis staff; one concentrated on the supply chain modules, and the other specialised in debtors, creditors and the finance modules.
"They had a very detailed knowledge of the software. They worked with us and when we had finished we felt we owned the system," remarks Fisher. BPCS has proved itself with accurate reporting, allowing management to remedy situations where there is potential loss of costly, imported materials and inventory imbalances. The pharmaceutical industry also needs high-quality materials.
"Our ability to make our products available at affordable prices to the South African consumer is underpinned by efficient manufacturing processes. BPCS tracks efficiencies, highlights excessive usage and enables corrective action," says Zachas.
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