40 years after its foundation, kohlpharma is one of the biggest German importers of patent-protected and prescription-only medicines in Europe and the undisputed market leader in Germany. Founder Edwin Kohl has been focused on essential competitive pricing for the benefit of consumers since the beginning, with the health system saving hundreds of millions of euros each year as a result.
.svg)
La maggior parte dei farmaci viene prodotta in Europa da società internazionali che in genere scelgono un sito di produzione centrale all'interno dell'Unione Europea. Questa strategia si basa su requisiti fiscali bassi e salari più competitivi. I farmaci vengono quindi messi in commercio all'interno dell'Unione Europea alle condizioni di mercato tipiche di ogni Stato membro, che generalmente sono più economiche rispetto alla Germania. kohlpharma sfrutta i costi inferiori in altri Paesi dell'Unione Europea per offrire prodotti originali sul mercato tedesco a prezzi interessanti. Questi farmaci originali vengono poi etichettati o confezionati nuovamente secondo i requisiti tedeschi. I risparmi che ne derivano alleviano il peso sul sistema sanitario, portando a benefici per i medici, i farmacisti e, soprattutto, i pazienti.
Poiché kohlpharma utilizza l'overstock per la propria offerta, soddisfare la domanda in modo affidabile rappresenta una sfida chiave. La disponibilità dei prodotti e i potenziali problemi di fornitura possono variare per motivi che esulano dal controllo dell'azienda. Una sfida particolare per la logistica è il trasporto con garanzia di qualità di farmaci refrigerati, come insuline o vaccini, che devono essere conservati a una temperatura costante compresa tra 2 °C e 8 °C lungo l'intera catena di approvvigionamento. Pertanto, è ancora più importante coordinare le procedure dall'acquisto alla fornitura nel modo migliore possibile. Per questo motivo, kohlpharma sta facendo sempre più affidamento sul potenziale della digitalizzazione.
Before a medicine can go into circulation after purchase, there are a multitude of documents to fill out and sign. As a pharmaceutical manufacturer, kohlpharma follows GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices) regulations, which means extensive written documentation for all processes and completed production orders. Correspondence including order placement and contracts, have historically been carried out using analog processes: time-consuming printing, signing, scanning, and emailing. As Johannes Reinert states: “The throughput times, particularly for GMP-relevant documents, are sometimes very long and complex. That’s why we looked for a solution that could accelerate these operations. We were looking for a simplified, digital, single foundation with all our EDP suppliers and service partners.”
“Many of our users are now working from home, which has been a whole new experience for both our home workers as well as those in electronic data processing. I’m delighted to have chosen Dropbox Sign, as it helps me make work considerably easier for both employees at home as well as in the office."
kohlpharma first tried to develop a solution in-house, which wouldn’t just be based around eSignatures but would also map the related workflows. However, evolving priorities resulted delays in completion, so the company wanted to invest in eSignature management. Dropbox Sign proved to be the best solution because of its transparency, simplicity, direct availability, and contractual frameworks. Due to the success of Dropbox Sign‘s cloud-only solution and eSignature API, the company quickly made the decision for thorough testing.
"I saw that Dropbox Sign was the best solution for us. We worked on a small trial to begin with, and quickly felt the benefits of the solution--suitable for solving all the issues we were aware of and that arose during the trial. ” – Johannes Reinert
The Dropbox Sign user interface is intuitive. Step-by-step guidance through contracts and forms is able to ensure that all relevant fields are filled out and all required signatures are inserted. Dropbox Sign can be integrated into any environment, including with individual branding. This immediately helped kohlpharma successfully transition to home working. From verbal ordering to software implementation, the whole process took less than an hour.
“I had the ideal solution for signature workflows ready to go, which meant we could enable and encourage our teams to work remotely. It created the potential to improve business processes and to allow for a higher degree of freedom of work location.” – Johannes Reinert
After the initial tests exceeded all expectations, kohlpharma is already planning the next stage to accelerate business processes and improve working conditions using Dropbox Sign.
Il piano per il futuro è di digitalizzare completamente i flussi di lavoro documentali interni, nonché la conferma della formazione interna obbligatoria. In questo modo aumenterà notevolmente la trasparenza, eliminando la necessità di digitalizzare i documenti corrispondenti in un secondo momento. Per i documenti che devono essere firmati da più parti, le firme elettroniche semplificano la procedura sia per gli editor che per i firmatari.
Supplier contracts red-lining and signing will also be digitized. Through this process, the contract structures and agreements with suppliers will benefit from template unification. Documents for business customers signed by kohlpharma could exclusively be edited with Dropbox Sign in future
For SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) where production processes are closely regulated, for example, in quality assurance and the EDP quality system, manual signatures will be replaced by their digital equivalent. Now, with its automated warehouses and seamless remote supply chain monitoring, kohlpharma is already a pioneer in the areas of digitalization and automation in the German pharmaceutical industry. They plan to remove all paper-based approval processes as much as possible for the foreseeable future. There’s still a way to go before then, but with Dropbox Sign, they’ve reached a significant milestone. Over time, forms can be converted into Dropbox Sign documents, reducing physical record keeping along the way.
As Johannes Reinert explains: "Looking forward, I’d like to see quality assurance, for example, switched over to digital forms. Digital forms are much easier and can be managed more effectively. Any legally required updates can be made in the shortest possible time, and across all relevant documents, without piles of forms needing to be destroyed. Everything is signed and filled out using seamlessly integrated Dropbox Sign components. So we again benefit in terms of transparency—every single detail in every process will be traceable."
Ask us about Dropbox Sign today. Dropbox Sign is an easy way for businesses to send, receive, and manage legally binding eSignatures. If you need help with choosing the right Dropbox Sign product, arrange a demo appointment and discover how signature-based processes can be optimized in your business.
