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

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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

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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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