Innovation in procurement and its supply chain processes was the thematic track on the last day of the Supply Chain & Expo.Logística International Forum. In the programming, one of the cases that drew the most attention was presented by DHL, winner of the ILOS Award 2014 edition, which chooses the best logistics operators in Brazil.
Alex Tosetto, IT Director for DHL Latin America and Flávio Augusto da Silva, Pharmashare Manager, provide more details on how technology applied to processes led to cost reduction and increased service level in the Pharmashare/JDA case.
O business case shows the implementation of a WMS (warehouse management system) at Pharmashare, DHL's largest multi-client site for the pharmaceutical sector in Brazil, with highly complex operations.
How did the solution developed by JDA result in a competitive system?
DHL has 4 warehouses with 25 customers. And within these, each client has a particularity. The big difference was the standardization, JDA offered us a solution that has such a diversified scope of processes, that we managed to put all customers within a single system, and we no longer need to have 23 systems to meet each specificity of each customer.
What were the main gains from this solution for the supply chain?
The main gains were: quality, traceability and, in a second moment, cost reduction of around 17% of the total cost of the warehouse.
“The model implemented in Brazil is being researched by DHL Europe and the United States. Some processes developed from the JDA system are being the target of interest of some international groups, who want to take what we did here there”, says Flávio Augusto da Silva, Pharmashare Manager.
“It is important to point out that we can pass on information to other places, but there are some particularities that refer to ANVISA, and are specific to Brazil”, adds Alex Tosetto, DHL IT Director for Latin America.
How was the process of co-creation in partnership between the companies to improve the solution?
“On the one hand, JDA provides the system and models it to meet the needs of the pharmaceutical sector, allowing for a level of customization. In this way, points that the system did not foresee were included by us, such as: improved temperature control, customizable barcode (this is one of the optimizations that the teams want to introduce abroad). On the other hand, DHL implements the system, provides support and “labor” for the implementation (operation, people, input and dispatch is done by DHL)”, reiterates Tosetto.
Was there resistance to the implementation of the new model?
“Yes, there was resistance, because in this process, we incorporated companies that used a different system and had family management”, recalls Flávio Augusto da Silva. “When the system was changed, we created a Change Management Committee, through which Communication and Incentive Campaigns were carried out so that employees would adopt the new system”, he adds.
Do employees feel the improvement with the use of the new system?
"Yes. As we operate in an environment that deals with many criteria and information about products, before much of this control was done on paper (where is the product, where has it been moved, is it in the truck, etc.). Today, the employee has the data collector in hand, types the information into the system and everything is gathered there, we manage to have a history of what happened in the chain”, says the DHL IT Director for Latin America.
Was there an improvement in inventory?
Yes, there was certainly a gain in speed in the inventory process, what used to take three days to do today is done in about 5 hours, with greater accuracy of information”, concludes Flávio Augusto da Silva.
Can the strategic partnership between suppliers generate innovation?
“The strategic partnership between DHL/JDA is beneficial for us and the customers, as when we register a new customer need, we request a system change to JDA and they optimize the system for us to use. In other words, JDA uses this alteration to create a new version of the system, therefore, we are our partner to develop their own system, because we know them deeply”, says Alex Tosetto, DHL IT Director for Latin America.
About innovation among strategic partners, the Global Vice President of JDA, Todd Johnson, says: “we accept the challenges of companies and try to offer them what we have in terms of expertise in relation to the models we have, such as, for example, the 3PL. We meet varied challenges with varied solutions, we provide standard solutions (core solutions), as well as those that serve companies with more complex objectives, such as: earning market share, expand operations or stay ahead of the newest market trend”, he concludes.
