Epicor announces a number of iScala 2.2 modules to specifically assist the pharmaceutical industry to meet the number of daily challenges it faces, among which include constant change, regulations, competition and globalisation.
The industry at large is wrought by regulatory control, and managers need to ensure they maintain an overall view of the business, its operations, controls and various divisions. That said, due to competition in the market they also need to ensure the daily reduction of operation costs, customer service improvement and order fulfilment.
Tiaan Grobbelaar, general manager at Epicor Scala, says: "In our experience pharmaceutical companies take great pain in deciding what ERP and MRP systems and processes they deploy. It is against this backdrop that when developing the iScala suite we have taken into consideration their needs for systems which eliminate duplicate entries, enables reconciliation, provides a single point of information for sales and manufacturing data, as well as provides the ability to track purchase records and match quality documentation."
By working closely with the Pharmaceutical User Group, Epicor has built in features which cover quality control, batch traceability, recall procedures, bin management, security and audit trails. Already embedded in the iScala 2.2 suite, Grobbelaar says the company can now provide pharmaceutical companies specific functionality for their exact industry, while also ensuring constant development in lines with pharma industry trends. Some examples of companies currently using the specific iScala Pharmaceutical solutions include: Syngenta, Schering, Boehringer-Ingelheim, Merck, Sicomed and Egis to name a few.
"Due to the global and multinational nature of the pharmaceutical industry we have ensured that globally these users can be supported on the iScala platform no matter the geography, by building their specific feature set into the standard iScala product line. The features we refer to are currently available as part of Epicor iScala Financial, Supply Chain and Customer Relationship Management product suite," states Grobbelaar.
Some of the specific features and functionality built in to the iScala suite, for the pharma industry, include:
* Extensive stock item master file with alpha numeric stock item number, multiple product groupings, bin and batch criteria, unit conversions, user defined fields and databases, pricelists, etc.
* Multi-level flexible recipe handling with version control, exclusive item handling and traceability.
* Automated, quick and reliable batch traceability.
* Multiple warehouses, warehouse areas and storage locations with individual accounting settings, inter-warehouse movements, etc.
* Stock Issues methods setting by individual stock item, by FIFO, LIFO, Bin, Earliest Best Before date First Out (BEFO), or FEFO [first expiry date first out] picking method.
* Extensive internal and external reporting and query capabilities.
* Customer defined quality criteria with QC categories, batch status control and security features.
* Integrated quality control support with standard QC documents such as QC labels for goods and QC change documents.
* Change control, any change or amendment to a batch or part of a batch regarding dates, status, quality codes, location, etc, are logged and can therefore be easily traced.
* System security and user permissions settings ensure good control and logs of changes in the system, specific to your industry.
"The Epicor iScala for Pharmaceutical is the ideal solution for those pharmaceutical companies who want extensive, integrated process support with improved security and control, a low total cost of ownership, proven rapid implementation methodology, which complies with local standards and is available worldwide providing a fast return on investment," ends Grobbelaar.
Detailed features:
Sales order management
* Restrictions on sale of controlled items
* Multiple price lists
* Foreign language descriptions
* Automated batch allocation
* Batch pricing
* Intrastat and stock reporting
Materials management
* Multiple unit of measure conversion
* Multiple stock issue methods
* Multiple stock valuation methods
* "Sanity check" of batch dates
* Bill of material and recipe handling
* Multi-currency stock transactions
* Supplier purchase control
Warehouse management
* Batch Template
* Automatic date creation
* Full Batch Traceability
* Dynamic (random) bin capabilities
* Fixed bin capabilities
* Quality Control with auto/manual locking
* QC documents & labels
Supply chain tools
* (Available To Promise) ATP capabilities
Manufacturing
* Hard allocation by batch of inputs
* Recipe/formula driven MRP II planning
* Production based on recipe and potency
Other
* Integration capabilities to barcode and WMS
* Integration capabilities for master data
* BI, KPI and reporting
* Program and user security
* Database level audit trail options
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