Sector: pharma
Omega Pharma, founded by Marc Coucke in 1987, is a European seller and manufacturer of OTC (over the counter) pharmaceutical products that do not require a prescription.In 2014, Omega Pharma was acquired by Perrigo, an American manufacturer of OTC products.The company’s Belgian headquarters are located in Nazareth and the group comprises several European entities.Omega Pharma uses SAP ECC as a general ERP application in which SAP is mainly used for organisational procedures.SAP BPC (Business Planning and Consolidation) is used to streamline budgeting and consolidation processes.
Client requirement
Omega Pharma mainly used its SAP ECC environment to collect and analyse data,but there was a need for a centrally managed system offering corporate reporting, without compromising the flexibility of local offices.Following a successful SAP BPC implementation, a central Business Analytics & Reporting environment was developed,which could be rolled out gradually, in synergy with the European roll-out of the SAP ERP implementation.This phased approach was necessary as not all modules could be implemented at the different locations at the same time.
Approach
element61 assisted Omega Pharma to make the decision for an integrated SAP Business Analytics solution, consisting of an SAP BW (back-end) and an SAP Business Objects BI platform (front-end for end users).
The initial first phase focused on Controlling-Profitability Analysis (CO-PA) and Sales Order reporting.This was followed by a full sales analysis, with a focus on Gross Margin and individual sales details.This first stage received a favourable response at corporate level and from the pilot team in Germany, following which the Netherlands and Great Britain also became involved as pilot projects for the implementation of the Business Analytics platform.
During a later stage, Sales and Operations planning (reporting and analysis) was included in the scope.Combining this data within the same environment went without a hitch,creating an integrated view and single reporting system and eliminating the need for manual data input.
One of the key success factors of the Omega Pharma narrative is the integration of IMS sales data within the analysis environment at corporate level.This enables Omega Pharma to better assess the market and its competitors, based on up-to-date and correct information.Element61 also worked out the following aspects for Omega Pharma:
- Source analysis;
- Collating user requirements;
- Defining the SAP BW architecture and SAP BEx queries;
- External data integration;
- Automatic loading of external data via alerts SAP BW and SAP Business Objects - security setup + Single Sign On;
- SAP Business Objects for Corporate standard reporting;
- Training Corporate Users when using SAP Business Objects WebI;
- Training Corporate Users in the development of 'cubes and queries' in SAP BW;
- Close cooperation in terms of performance and installation;
- Training of end users in pilot countries.
Results
Omega Pharma currently has a complete reporting and analytical environment in which all SAP data from the various SAP companies, external sources and other tools are integrated.By repeatedly and gradually adding modules and data, Omega Pharma was able to maintain an overview of its analysis and reporting.
The implementation of this analysis and reporting environment offers Omega Pharma several advantages:
- Both the corporate organisation and the various individual countries have the same data at their disposal:everyone now refers to the same figures and definitions;
- Manual input of data from external providers has been reduced;
- Data quality has greatly improved, fewer problems with external data;
- Data is continuously available and up to date;
- Countries can spend more time analysing data rather than drawing up reports;
- A new country can be easily and quickly be connected to the SAP ERP system.
Read more about a more detailed client case (in English) here!