International SOS, the parent company to MedSupply International, provides global emergency services from medical personnel to emergency evacuations. They are trusted by 12,000 organisations to fulfil their Duty of Care responsibilities, protecting global workforces from health and safety risks
MedSupply provides medical kits to International SOS and other emergency providers. With over 30 years of experience and worldwide delivery capabilities, they are uniquely positioned to meet their customer’s requirements for medical supplies. MedSupply have 250 employees working to deliver 300 000 medical kits a year.
Project Background
MedSupply UAE was operating on an instance of Sage 200 that was part of their UK operations. As this system was set up for the UK office it was not ideal for the Dubai business, because it was configured to meet the UK requirements and regulations. Because International SOS had several solutions running across the group it was easy to evaluate different offerings, and MedSupply UAE chose Sage X3 as the best solution to meet their requirements as a global distribution business.
Prior to the implementation of Sage X3, several manual processes and custom requirements were being managed outside of the core system. Some of these processes that were not being catered for included purchase order approvals, inventory expiration date tracking, specific tracking of pallet and kit configurations, tax requirements for different countries, as well as a single source of data to meet reporting requirements.
Improvements Gained with Sage X3
As the Dubai project was a greenfield implementation, there was less emphasis on importing historical data and more focus on setting up the system to support MedSupply’s specific global distribution requirements as they moved their 8 subsidiaries in different regions onto Sage X3.
By implementing Sage X3 MedSupply can streamline operations and gain insights into costs and margins, ensuring an efficient distribution operation. As Sage X3 is a flexible and scalable solution, the process of bringing other regional offices or newly acquired businesses onto the system in the future will be simplified.
SynergERP Implementation Methodology (SIM)
SynergERP approached this project with its SIM methodology. The collaborative nature of the SIM methodology and its emphasis on involving a larger section of system users from the beginning of the project helps bridge the gaps between project outcomes and the needs of the users. It also means that users become accustomed to using the system during the implementation and there is less need for change management and training as there is already ‘ownership’ of the system at go-live.
“Great collaboration sums up the successful implementation of Sage X3 in MedSupply Dubai.
The extended SynergERP team has helped us set a very good foundation for our future implementation projects in the Asia Pacific and Europe. ”
– Sune Svenningsen, CEO MedSupply
SynergERP Building Efficiencies
One of the most significant improvements that Sage X3 offered MedSupply was the ability to automate the purchase order approval process. Workflows were created enabling the entire purchasing process to be recorded in Sage X3. Previously purchase orders had been approved by an external process of sending emails which meant that there was no ‘single view’ of purchasing activities and employees were required to use different applications to process purchase orders. With the introduction of purchase order approval workflows in Sage X3, all the purchasing information is in one system and everyone involved in the process has visibility. This makes the process more efficient and makes it easier for employees to forecast and plan.
Import templates were also created to simplify some transactions. MedSupply uses templates for recurring sales orders, purchase orders and journals because it’s easy to amend the import template in Excel and import the data into Sage X3.
Another requirement that is unique to this environment is the need to track expiration dates of pharmaceutical goods. It was necessary to set up the system so that stock allocations were done on the expiration date and Sage X3 was able to facilitate this requirement for strong batch tracking and expiration date management.
The medical kits that MedSupply delivers may include items such as a first aid kit, to a configuration of products that fill a pallet, or an even more complex configuration of products for a full emergency recovery process. Sage X3 was set up to manage these custom configurations, allowing all the relevant information to be captured in the system as opposed to being tracked through an external process.
Future Direction
The scalable and flexible nature of Sage X3 supports MedSupply’s current and future business requirements. The Dubai operations focus on a drop shipping fulfilment process which means that most goods don’t enter their warehouse and fulfilment is carried out by third-party logistics companies. A key requirement is for Sage X3 to support the financial management and ordering processes associated with this fulfilment process.
Looking into the future, the Asia Pacific implementation will have manufacturing requirements as these regions are more involved with the manufacture of medical consumables and equipment. Also, part of MedSupply’s future planning includes integrations with various banks and applications such as Salesforce.
At MedSupply, Sage X3 offers real-time visibility of operations and ensures transparency of the distribution processes for all stakeholders. Purchasing decisions can now be optimised and orders fulfilled more efficiently. Dimensions in Sage X3 make it easier to format data to meet reporting requirements for reporting in Cognos, offering real-time insights. By implementing a flexible, scalable solution MedSupply have prepared themselves well for a global marketplace which requires them to be efficient and agile.
