Unnefar increase product availability thanks to optimised procurement management

Unnefar is the third-largest pharmaceutical distributor in Spain serving 4,100 pharmacies through its 10 partners. Thanks to Slim4, the cooperative has increased product availability and service levels, while keeping its stock levels under control. As a result, the risk of lost margin has been significantly reduced- event in the event of a price drop. The next challenge; integrating all the warehouses of its partners into one integrated Slim4 environment.

Unnefar opted for Slimstock to optimise its supply management. “Before Slim4, each company had its own system. Given the nature of pharmaceutical distribution, we needed a system with the specific functionality that that would allow us to make a qualitative leap. Slim4 has a track record for delivering in all of the key elements, such as minimising stock-outs at pharmacies. For that reason, we bet on Slimstock,” explains María Osaba, Operations Director at Unnefar.

Better availability with less stock

Through enabling comprehensive management of its inventory, Slim4 has allowed Unnefar to meet its direct objectives of improving availability, level of service and control of stock levels.

The Operations Directory adds: “In addition to these direct benefits, we can now perform the same tasks more efficiently. Furthermore, we now have a global group vision that facilitates truly coordinated decision-making.”

In addition, Unnefar has minimized the supply chain costs. Thanks to the economic purchase quantity (EOQ) functionality, the planning team can base all purchasing decisions on a series of business rules defined by the cooperative.

With Slim4’s Distribution Resources Planning (DRP) functionality transfers of excess material between branches are automatically calculated to balance inventory balance between warehouses. Other improvements achieved include the reduction in time required to place orders. Furthermore, service levels are now dynamically adjusted demanding on ABC classification which includes up to 10 categories based on sales.

“With Slim4 we have managed to automate the most repetitive tasks of order calculation and demand forecasting, freeing up time for more valuable tasks such as the analysis of synergies between our partners,” states María Osaba.

The new challenge: integrating all warehouses

Happy with the results so far, the Operations Directory concludes: “Our next challenge is to integrate all of the warehouses of the 10 partner companies into one integrated Slim4 environment. By calculating our overall inventory requirements centrally, this will allow us to further refine inventory levels of every item and for each distribution company.”