PL Developments Supports Rapid Growth and Meets Customer Needs by Optimizing Supply Chain and Warehouse Management
 
 

PL Developments Supports Rapid Growth and Meets Customer Needs by Optimizing Supply Chain and Warehouse Management

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PL Developments,a leading supplier of over-the-counter, FDA-approved products in the analgesic, gastrointestinal, cough/cold, sleep/motion, and eye care categories, is an integrated single source for oral dosage development and manufacturing of over-the-counter pharmaceutical and nutritional products. The company focuses on innovation and commitment to the well-being of its customers, consumers, employees, and the community.

A few years ago, PL Developments realized that its IT systems could not adequately support the growth expectancy of the business. To get—and stay—ahead of the curve, it needed to implement an integrated application suite that would provide total visibility into every aspect of its business. The company implemented a full solution from Oracle—including Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12.1.1 and Oracle’s Agile product lifecycle management applications—to improve its supply chain control, optimize inventory levels, streamline production scheduling, enhance customer service, and improve financial planning processes.

 
 

 
 

Challenges

A word from PL Developments

  • "Since implementing Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12.1.1 and other supporting Oracle solutions, we have grown by 35% to 40%, attributable in part to the visibility the technology provides us into every aspect of our business. We now make decisions quickly, based on real data. We’re smarter, faster, and more efficient, and it shows” – Tom Crowe, Chief Information Officer, PL Developments

  • Implement an integrated business application suite to enable the company to scale to support expected growth
  • Enhance supply chain control for private label, over-the-counter drug packaging solutions and tablets and capsules sold to retailers, supermarkets, and drugstores
  • Manage the end-to-end packaging process for customers, including artwork and label design, regulatory requirements support, call center activities, and distribution
  • Improve visibility into the production floor and streamline production schedules
  • Manage and plan inventory for customers to ensure proper levels are available and respond to orders within 24 to 72 hours
  • Perform supply and demand planning between its pharmaceutical manufacturing plant and bottling and packaging plant

Solutions

Oracle Product and Services

  • Worked with Oracle Partner CPG Solutions (a KPIT Cummins company) to implement Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12.1.1, Oracle’s Agile Product Lifecycle Management, and Hyperion applications in just 10 months
  • Used Oracle Advanced Supply Chain Planning to improve inventory visibility—identifying a capacity deficiency and the need to create a second shift to meet customer needs
  • Leveraged the visibility to match capacity to demand—ceasing production on products in surplus and ramping up to produce a two- to three-week supply for other, more critically-needed products—meeting stocking requirements within three months, post go-live
  • Used Oracle Warehouse Management to eliminate the need to keep manual logs—automating processes for managing bulk-product lot control, allocating bulk medications to specific product orders, and reducing errors across the board
  • Optimized manufacturing scheduling to minimize the number of short runs while still ensuring that the company can ship products to its customers on demand
  • Utilized Oracle Warehouse Management and Oracle Advanced Supply Chain Planning to perform demand and supply planning between the pharmaceutical manufacturing plant (Miami, FL), and the bottling and packaging plant (Long Island, NY)
  • Leveraged the new mixed-mode manufacturing feature in Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12.1.1 to implement Process Manufacturing in the Miami plant and Discrete Manufacturing in the Florida plant, in a single Oracle E-Business Suite instance
  • Provided visibility into a product’s exact location at any time—where it is shipped, and to which customer—and kept an electronic record for easier regulatory compliance
  • Used Oracle E-Business Suite and Agile applications to manage product lifecycle processes and eliminate several hours of meetings each week by providing team members with the data visibility and control at the touch of a button
  • Streamlined budgeting process and forecasting accuracy with Oracle’s Hyperion Advanced Forecasting and Demand Modeling, providing a layer for every department manager, including expenses and expenditure forecasts to help prepare for the upcoming year
  • Deployed Oracle User Productivity Kit to support training approximately 120 users on the new Oracle applications, enabling users to maintain productivity levels even immediately post go-live
  • Used Oracle Business Accelerators to go-live with Oracle E-Business Suite in an aggressive timeline of just 10 months

Why Oracle

Four years ago, PL Developments acquired Avéma Pharma, the manufacturing facility in Miami, which already ran Oracle E-Business Suite but had not completed its implementation. PL Developments was impressed with the product suite but knew it would still need to make an additional investment to complete the implementation, add new functionality, and train its users. It examined the Oracle solution and one from SAP, ultimately deciding on Oracle and its partner, CPG Solutions, due to their understanding of the packaged goods space and commitment to the industry. 

“We needed technology tools in place that would help us do the heavy lifting, see our options, and control our own destiny. Oracle fit that bill,” saidTom Crowe, chief information officer, PL Developments.

Implementation Process

PL Developments recognized the importance of positioning the implementation as a corporate project, not an IT project, to secure buy-in from critical business leads. It brought Oracle Partner CPG Solutions on board in August 2009 to help examine the known requirements and deliverables for the project. The joint team then began an aggressive implementation schedule in October 2009, going live on Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12.1.1 and the Agile applications in less than 10 months in July 2010 at its New York facility. It focused on training every step of the way during the implementation so its business users could hit the ground running post go-live. PL Developments completed subsequent implementations in October 2010 (Hyperion) and November 2011 (Demantra) at this facility. It implemented Oracle Warehouse Management in its New York office in July 2010 and is looking forward to the Oracle Warehouse Management go-live in its Miami office in February 2012.

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