Managing Automation - June 2008 - (Page 50)

[ INDUSTRIES ] Transformation TechWatch Integration Industries where you have visibility to each pallet of product, each case, each individual item. Pharmaceutical makers don’t currently have systems in place with that kind of granularity that would allow them to do that.” FACILITATING DRUG RECALLS Once those systems are in place, however, companies can expect to see real business value from these compliance-driven initiatives, particularly with regard to their ability to handle product recalls. Just ask US Oncology, a distributor of oncology drugs, which was one of the first to roll out SupplyScape’s e-pedigree software, in mid-2006. When one of its pharmaceutical manufacturers issued a recall that year, US Onmanagingautomation.com cology was able to tap into the RELATED ARTICLES: e-pedigree database and within Every Step of the Way minutes knew the exact locawww.managingautomation.com/industries26 tion of all of the affected shipPharma’s Track & Trace Challenge ments so that it could expedite www.managingautomation.com/industries24 the recall process. Rx for the FDA Jitters “The whole thing took 15 or www.managingautomation.com/FDA 20 minutes instead of weeks or even months,” says Rolando de COMPANIES MENTIONED: Cardenas, US Oncology’s vice Acsis president and general manager www.managingautomation.com/acsis2 of Oncology RX. CDC Software Sharp Corp., a contract pharwww.managingautomation.com/cdc maceutical packager, views its QAD ability to handle serialization www.managingautomation.com/qad and the e-pedigree directives SAP www.managingautomation.com/sap3 coming out of California and other states as a key competiSupplyScape www.managingautomation.com/supplyscape tive differentiator. Therefore, it sees an investment to create Systech www.managingautomation.com/systech track-and-trace capabilities as worthwhile. Sharp is partner- ing with Systech International, which delivers packaging execution systems for the pharmaceutical industr y, and its ERP provider QAD, on its e-pedigree and serialization solution. “We see this as a technology-enabler for our business and an opportunity for us to establish ourselves as a top-tier contract packager,” says Rick Siebert, Sharp’s vice president of project management and business development. Yet, Siebert doesn’t downplay the money and “The whole thing [locating shipments for a recall] took 15 or 20 minutes instead of weeks or months.” — US Oncology’s Rolando de Cardenas effort it will take to gear up Sharp’s technology infrastructure. “This means we have to revitalize our entire manufacturing process to have the hardware capabilities and software to individually mark the lowest unit of sale,” he says, citing new 2D bar coders, RFID tags and readers, printers, and cameras among the investments Sharp will have to make to equip its 50 packaging suites. “To equip one packaging suite to do e-pedigree and serialization is about a $400,000 to $500,000 investment, which is very significant for a company our size,” he says. In the end, however, it’s the consumer who should benefit from the e-pedigree and serialization efforts and the pharmaceutical industry’s focus on supply chain best practices. “To be able to have supply chain visibility to trace a product down to a consumer level ultimately lets a company react [to a recall] within hours,” says Phil Friedman, vice president, consumer goods, and the head of QAD’s life sciences vertical division. “What you want to be able to do is be super-responsive and protect the brand at the same time.” I maonline There is a real choice in business software Consolidation has eliminated a lot of middle market enterprise application vendors. But you do have a strong third option. Find out how IFS stacks up against the giants at http://download.ifsworld.com/comparison_centers I F S – T H E G L O B A L E N T E R P R I S E A P P L I C AT I O N S C O M PA N Y www.IFSWORLD.com Photo courtesy: Oncology RX http://managingautomation.com http://www.managingautomation.com/industries26 http://www.managingautomation.com/industries24 http://www.managingautomation.com/FDA http://www.managingautomation.com/acsis2 http://www.managingautomation.com/cdc http://www.managingautomation.com/qad http://www.managingautomation.com/sap3 http://www.managingautomation.com/supplyscape http://www.managingautomation.com/systech http://download.ifsworld.com/comparison_centers http://www.IFSWORLD.com http://www.IFSWORLD.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Managing Automation - June 2008

Managing Automation - June 2008 Contents Take 1 SAP Cites Functionality, Cost Structure in Modified On-Demand Product Rollout Dassault Exec Predicts More PLM Consolidation The Blackberry Goes Native with SAP CRM QAD Brings MDM In-House with FullTilt Buy Power Experts Look to End Voltage Sags The Progressive Manufacturers Notes Cover Story: Playing the Globalization Game to Win Special Report Integration Transformation Industries Product Scan Advertiser Index Next

Managing Automation - June 2008

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