DCS EDI Specialists Ensure Success with Your Industry Requirements
Recent events in the national press are reinforcing regulator’s demands for tighter lot control and expiration date management. Additionally, the mass merchants, pharmacy chains, and large distributors are attempting to reallocate risk to the manufacturer. An example is the e-Pedigree Shipment Notice (ASN, 856). “Back Office” problems are difficult as numerous customers promulgate widely varying demands, causing many to ignore the problem that must be dealt with for continued success. DCS is ready to help you meet these challenges now.
DCS Knows Your Industry
DCS has the experience to meet the requirements of your customers and keep your business process running smoothly. Contact us today for your no-cost assessment to get the process started.
Lot Tracing
Lot traceability has become increasingly essential in the procurements and manufacturing process to protect public health. If a shipment contains two lots of the same UPC number your invoice must be changed, without the proper attention this may become a problem. If your system is not configured properly, lot tracing can be a nightmare for any business. By solidifying your operations using proper systems, traceability can be your competitive edge and customer favorite. While these challenges can be readily solved by the big five pharmaceutical manufacturers, small and mid-sized firms face the twin challenge of meeting demands and controlling cost.
Utilizing Process Management
Process management must occur quickly, easily, and without mistake. The purpose of EDI and E-commerce is process automation that drives toward these goals, while ensuring check points and exception reports are effective. Since expiring product data can flow reliably from large customers, improved and automated procedures are necessary. For example, expired product data should readily download into your ERP system instead of arriving as a spreadsheet. This helps eliminate tedious and error-prone manual entry for accounts payables, while reducing/eliminating chargebacks. The best way is to use your existing systems to speed processes and reduce errors.
Creation of sound procedures will eliminate chargebacks and calls from irate, crucial customers. This task must be done properly to minimize the project cost. Due to our experience with Rx ASNs, chargebacks, and order flow, DCS EDI consultants know the challenges of AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health, and McKesson, as well as industry leaders like Lilly and Pfizer. Continuous improvements are also easier when DCS is there to assist as needed. Our PROCESS™ ensures your evolution will be thorough and quick.
E-commerce has brought other evolutionary changes to companies that impact every traditional business process, including:
- price/deal sheet
- item data synchronization (1SYNC)
- secure Internet data transmission (EDI INT AS2)
- public warehouse connections (940 series)
- payments (EFT: CTX+ and 820)
- ship-to address (GLN)
- product identifiers (RFID and GTIN) changes.
If some customers are already automated, consider adding more, including distributors. The decision criterion is transaction count. A high number of orders or part numbers can be time consuming to key and allow for errors to arise. If you haven’t asked customers for EDI, you are experiencing “blinders” because it does not mean they are not EDI capable. Any non-EDI customer or distributor is a prospect for automation, which is easy for DCS to find out. With the identification of improvements in this process, we can be your ally in conquering the new wave of e-commerce.
Your business is unique, and yet you must align your methods to essential customers’ requirements. This means your existing Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and EDI systems must adapt over time to meet these evolving requirements. The process is complex, but can be broken down into small, manageable tasks, creating the best opportunity for valuable experience with your current system for a much smaller price. DCS can assess your current system to see what changes need to be made for the most money saved.