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Embrace Case Study | Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare | Merck
011 275-2000 | info@embrace.co.za | embrace.co.za
ACS House, 370 Rivonia Boulevard North, Rivonia, South Africa
Embrace ERP - The Active Enabling Ingredient in Merck SA’s success!
“Embrace ERP has been the enabling force allowing us to achieve our business objectives.
We have enjoyed a significant return on our investment in all areas of our business and
would not be where we are today without ACS-Embrace!”
Paul Palm - Director Information Services Division - Merck (Pty) Ltd South Africa
Report on turnover in excess of R700 million
Reduce time working on administrative tasks by 30%
Ensure strict batch quality control and traceability of their products
Meet changing business and global reporting requirements
Pharmaceuticals
Healthcare
Chemicals
Complex, challenging and evolving business requirements
Manage complex inventory and storage requirements
Cater for multiple third party interfaces
Embrace end-to-end ERP with sophisticated Manufacturing solution
Full visibility, inventory control, forecasting and demand management
Support multiple currencies and different pricing models
Ability to classify, control, and track a wide range of chemicals
Ensure all hazardous chemicals and fridge stock are stored, packed and
sold separately
Accurate financial reports, with detailed transactional data & drill down
Facilitate and enable the business to meet all objectives
Valuable and convenient e-commerce solution
Improved customer service
Embrace enables
Merck South Africa
to successfully
Industry Sector
The Challenge
The Solution
The Benefits
Embrace Case Study | Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare | Merck
The Company
Merck is a leading science and technology company in
healthcare, life science and performance materials.
Around 50,000 employees work to further develop
technologies that improve and enhance life – from
biopharmaceutical therapies to treat cancer or multiple
sclerosis, cutting edge systems for scientific research and
production, to liquid crystals for smartphones and LCD
televisions.
Merck (Pty) Ltd South Africa is part of German-based
global pharmaceutical manufacturer, Merck KGaA. The
company prides itself on having had representatives in
South Africa for more than 100 years in industrial
chemicals and have been registered as an entity in their
own right in pharmaceuticals, for almost 50 years.
Merck’s South African annual turnover is about R700m.
It employs about 200 people at production facilities and
takes care of sales, distribution and technical support of a
broad range of pharmaceutical, consumer health care and
chemical products.
The Challenge
Merck implemented the Embrace ERP Business Solution
27 years ago, when they had their own warehouse,
imported pharmaceutical products and did simple local
production. Their business model has completely changed
and evolved since then.
“Ours is a complex and challenging environment. We are a
multi-national company. Embrace ERP has had to evolve to
meet our constantly changing business requirements,”
explains Paul Palm, Director-Information Services
Division.
There were many acquisitions, all of which needed to be
integrated into Merck’s business solution, such as the
purchase of a factory in Wadeville.
Palm further explains that manufacturing chemicals is very
different to manufacturing cars and other equipment. What
goes into the mix is vastly different from what comes out and
chemicals have yield variances. The Active Pharmaceutical
Ingredients (API) have a shelf life, as do the finished products
made from these ingredients.
Ours is a complex and challenging
environment. We are a multi national
company. Embrace ERP has had to
evolve to meet our constantly
changing business requirements.
This has been and will continue to be
a true Win-Win Partnership.
Paul Palm –Director-Information Services Division - Merck South Africa
“
”
Embrace Case Study | Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare | Merck
The Solution
A fully integrated, single, real-time system that has grown
and evolved with the company.
The enhanced monitoring of the raw material use-by dates
and batch quality control, in Embrace, ensures that they are
not left with expired stock and that there is no wastage.
ACS-Embrace implemented and integrated a sophisticated
MRP solution to meet these complex requirements.
Full visibility, inventory control, forecasting and demand
management within Embrace are critical to the success of
their business. The factory was recently sold to a
Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Company, who are also
running on Embrace, and they are doing “Toll Manufacturing”
on behalf of Merck.
The Benefits
Merck SA operates in three different markets and Embrace
caters for all these business models. They sell a wide range of
chemicals, from routine to specialty, used in mining and
cosmetics, all of which are classified, controlled and tracked
within Embrace. These include hazardous chemicals and
“fridge” stock, and need they to be stored separately.
Restrictions are in place within Embrace to prevent
incompatible chemicals from being stored, packed or sold
together.
Merck sells in multiple currencies, has many different pricing
models and has full control and traceability of their products
within Embrace.
Third Party Interfaces Faci l i tates Business
Success
Merck has outsourced some operational aspects of their
business and works with numerous third parties.
“To keep abreast of our changing business and global
reporting requirements, ACS-Embrace has had to remain an
agile, world class solution. They have written many
interfaces for a range of third parties, to facilitate our
business and enable us to meet our objectives,” adds Palm.
Rands and Sense
Merck has volunteered to be a BETA site for many of the
Embrace Update Releases and has stayed at the leading edge
of the curve. “Upgrading to the latest version of Embrace
makes Rands and cents,” explains Palm.
Committed to having up-to-date software Merck typically
implements upgrades or service packs twice a year. “We
prefer to stay at the leading edge of technology and run the
latest version of the software. This also helps ensure low
long-term maintenance costs,” states Palm.
Leveraging Enhanced Embrace Functional ity
for Competitive Edge
Merck are currently on the latest release of Embrace and
have recently implemented numerous new modules,
including Purchasing Workflow to control procurement, the
enhanced Fixed Assets Management module, the Service
module and the new balancing routines in the General
Ledger.
“The new and enhanced functionality in Embrace is always
another major reason to upgrade,” adds Palm, specifically
the VAT IT14SD; the new configurable approach to ADE
(Automatic Date Exchange); the rewritten Cash Book; the
Creditors online reconciliation; and further enhanced
Workflow.
Upgrading to the latest version of
Embrace makes Rands and Cents!
We stay at the leading edge of
technology, leverage the benefits of
enhanced functionality and ensure
low long-term maintenance costs.
Paul Palm –Director-Information Services Division -
Merck South Africa
“
”
Copyright 2019, ACS-Embrace. All Rights Reserved
This document is provided for information purposes only, and the contents hereof are subject to change without
notice. This document is not warranted to be error-free nor does it imply fitness for a particular purpose. This
document may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, for any
purpose, without our prior written permission.
Embrace Case Study | Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare | Merck
Significant time and effort required to collate the
information to support an IT14SD audit, has been
eliminated, thanks to the VAT IT14SD functionality.
Requirements for change are not only driven by Merck,
but also by the third parties they interface to. The
configurable approach to ADE has been invaluable when
implementing new interfaces.
“Making changes to accommodate these requirements
using this integrated and configurable approach has
significantly reduced costs and minimised disruption to the
business,” states Palm.
Boost Sales & Profitabil ity with Web Trading
Merck were early adopters of EDI and Web Trading. Merck’s
e-Commerce, “MeComm”, interfaces to Embrace, to populate
the website and interact with the web, importing transactions
into Embrace.
Customers find this e-Commerce facility extremely valuable
and convenient.
“This has been and will continue to be a true Win-Win
Partnership. We have a highly technical environment and run a
lean IT Department. ACS-Embrace has been the enabling force
allowing us to achieve our business objectives,” continues Palm.
Comprehensive, Real -Time Reporting enables
Informed, Strategic , Business Decis ions
The Cognos Suite of Business Intelligence Tools has been
tightly integrated into Embrace, enabling enhanced reporting.
Embrace imports and exports data to and from Merck’s global
Head Office systems.
“We have accurate, reliable financial reports, with detailed
transactional data. We believe that Embrace has paid for itself
many times over.
We have enjoyed a significant return on our investment in all
areas of our business. We would not be where we are today
without ACS-Embrace,” concludes Palm.
Embrace has paid for itself many
times over. We have enjoyed a
significant return on our investment in
all areas of our business.
We would not be where we are today
without ACS-Embrace!
Paul Palm –Director-Information Services Division - Merck South Africa
“
”
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