RELEX Solutions Case Studies Streamlining Operations with End-to-End Supply Chain Optimization in Pharmaceutical Industry: A Case Study of Nomeco

Edit This Case Study Record

	Streamlining Operations with End-to-End Supply Chain Optimization in Pharmaceutical Industry: A Case Study of Nomeco RELEX Solutions

Streamlining Operations with End-to-End Supply Chain Optimization in Pharmaceutical Industry: A Case Study of Nomeco

RELEX Solutions

Technology Category	Cybersecurity & Privacy - Identity & Authentication Management Functional Applications - Inventory Management Systems
Applicable Industries	Pharmaceuticals Transportation
Applicable Functions	Logistics & Transportation Warehouse & Inventory Management
Use Cases	Inventory Management Picking, Sorting & Positioning
Services	System Integration
Challenge	Nomeco, a leading pharmaceutical wholesaler in Denmark, was facing challenges with its legacy replenishment and ERP systems which had become difficult to maintain and develop. The planning tools were unable to integrate with each other, leading to unnecessary manual steps throughout their process. This was particularly problematic every two weeks when prescription drug prices and pharmacy assortments needed to be updated across their network of pharmacies. Furthermore, Nomeco’s pharmacy customers have considerable autonomy in deciding assortments, delivery schedules, delivery sizes, and other parameters. This made forecasting demand and ensuring optimal inventory levels for pharmaceuticals immensely complex and time-consuming. Additionally, the unstable supply chains and frequent supplier stock-outs of prescription medications required providers to identify appropriate pharmaceutical substitutions to meet their customer demand. Nomeco’s systems were not able to support optimally in these situations, which required their planners to manually identify the ideal replacements for these medications. Read More
About Customer	Nomeco is the preferred pharmaceutical wholesaler for pharmacies, supplier for hospitals, and strategic service partner for the pharmaceutical industry in Denmark. They provide vendor managed inventory services (VMI) for approximately 350 pharmacies across Denmark and the Faero Islands through three distribution centers. With a turnover of EUR 1 billion (USD 1.07 billion), they manage over 22,000 SKUs. Nomeco’s pharmacy customers have considerable autonomy in deciding assortments, delivery schedules, delivery sizes, and other parameters in order to optimize the operations of each individual pharmacy. Read More
Solution	After an extensive vendor selection process, Nomeco decided to implement RELEX, a platform that provides end-to-end supply chain integration and optimizes their forecasting and replenishment processes. The implementation of the RELEX solution was heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic as Nomeco had to focus their attention on business-critical activities and manage the build-up of national reserve stock during the height of the pandemic. However, since implementation, they have been able to significantly reduce manual processes, which also reduced the amount of time—and weekend overtime—spent on VMI-related tasks. Through RELEX’s advanced assortment logic, their pharmacy substitution processes are optimized to make fast, data-driven replacement decisions in the event of vendor stock-outs. Read More Log in to view content
Contents

Technology Category

Cybersecurity & Privacy - Identity & Authentication Management

Functional Applications - Inventory Management Systems

Applicable Industries

Pharmaceuticals

Transportation

Applicable Functions

Logistics & Transportation

Warehouse & Inventory Management

Use Cases

Inventory Management

Picking, Sorting & Positioning

Services

System Integration

Challenge

Nomeco, a leading pharmaceutical wholesaler in Denmark, was facing challenges with its legacy replenishment and ERP systems which had become difficult to maintain and develop. The planning tools were unable to integrate with each other, leading to unnecessary manual steps throughout their process. This was particularly problematic every two weeks when prescription drug prices and pharmacy assortments needed to be updated across their network of pharmacies. Furthermore, Nomeco’s pharmacy customers have considerable autonomy in deciding assortments, delivery schedules, delivery sizes, and other parameters. This made forecasting demand and ensuring optimal inventory levels for pharmaceuticals immensely complex and time-consuming. Additionally, the unstable supply chains and frequent supplier stock-outs of prescription medications required providers to identify appropriate pharmaceutical substitutions to meet their customer demand. Nomeco’s systems were not able to support optimally in these situations, which required their planners to manually identify the ideal replacements for these medications.

About Customer

Nomeco is the preferred pharmaceutical wholesaler for pharmacies, supplier for hospitals, and strategic service partner for the pharmaceutical industry in Denmark. They provide vendor managed inventory services (VMI) for approximately 350 pharmacies across Denmark and the Faero Islands through three distribution centers. With a turnover of EUR 1 billion (USD 1.07 billion), they manage over 22,000 SKUs. Nomeco’s pharmacy customers have considerable autonomy in deciding assortments, delivery schedules, delivery sizes, and other parameters in order to optimize the operations of each individual pharmacy.

Solution

After an extensive vendor selection process, Nomeco decided to implement RELEX, a platform that provides end-to-end supply chain integration and optimizes their forecasting and replenishment processes. The implementation of the RELEX solution was heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic as Nomeco had to focus their attention on business-critical activities and manage the build-up of national reserve stock during the height of the pandemic. However, since implementation, they have been able to significantly reduce manual processes, which also reduced the amount of time—and weekend overtime—spent on VMI-related tasks. Through RELEX’s advanced assortment logic, their pharmacy substitution processes are optimized to make fast, data-driven replacement decisions in the event of vendor stock-outs.

Impact #1	The implementation of the RELEX solution has brought about significant operational improvements for Nomeco. They have been able to reduce manual processes, which has also led to a reduction in the amount of time and weekend overtime spent on VMI-related tasks. This has allowed Nomeco to operate more pharmacies with fewer VMI consultants. The flexibility in parameter settings has allowed for customization based on the needs of individual pharmacies. Some pharmacies have opted to increase inventory levels slightly while reducing deliveries. In other cases, Nomeco is working with pharmacies to further optimize their setup. Overall, Nomeco has seen clear improvements in terms of reduced inventory levels and similar or higher availability, even when facing increased sales quantities. The advanced assortment logic of RELEX has optimized their pharmacy substitution processes, enabling fast, data-driven replacement decisions in the event of vendor stock-outs.

Impact #1

The implementation of the RELEX solution has brought about significant operational improvements for Nomeco. They have been able to reduce manual processes, which has also led to a reduction in the amount of time and weekend overtime spent on VMI-related tasks. This has allowed Nomeco to operate more pharmacies with fewer VMI consultants. The flexibility in parameter settings has allowed for customization based on the needs of individual pharmacies. Some pharmacies have opted to increase inventory levels slightly while reducing deliveries. In other cases, Nomeco is working with pharmacies to further optimize their setup. Overall, Nomeco has seen clear improvements in terms of reduced inventory levels and similar or higher availability, even when facing increased sales quantities. The advanced assortment logic of RELEX has optimized their pharmacy substitution processes, enabling fast, data-driven replacement decisions in the event of vendor stock-outs.

Benefit #1	Significant reduction in manual processes and time spent on VMI-related tasks
Benefit #2	Reduced inventory levels while maintaining or increasing availability levels
Benefit #3	Increased the number of customer pharmacies serviced with fewer VMI planners

Benefit #1

Significant reduction in manual processes and time spent on VMI-related tasks

Benefit #2

Reduced inventory levels while maintaining or increasing availability levels

Benefit #3

Increased the number of customer pharmacies serviced with fewer VMI planners

Download PDF Version

Overview

Streamlining Operations with End-to-End Supply Chain Optimization in Pharmaceutical Industry: A Case Study of Nomeco

Operational Impact

Quantitative Benefit