Company Profile
CARBOGEN AMCIS develops and produces active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), including the corresponding process research and development through to the commercial production of active pharmaceutical ingredients for the pharmaceutical and bio-pharmaceutical industry. Since its foundation in 1990, the company has developed from its headquarters in Bubendorf, Switzerland, into a globally active company with around 1000 employees. There are currently a total of 4 sites in Switzerland and further sites in the UK, France, China and the Netherlands.
As a company in the pharmaceutical industry, CARBOGEN AMCIS, like all other companies in this sector, is exposed to pressure from the economy, competition, and the healthcare system. In order to gain a competitive advantage, CARBOGEN AMCIS has realized a renewal and improvement of the ERP system and the connected process landscape.
Reference Story
To ensure continued competitiveness and a future-proof focus, the existing Microsoft system (AX 2012), which was running on-premises, was to be replaced by a cloud solution – Microsoft Dynamics 365 on Azure. Other objectives included improved supplier integration and transparent and simple production processes.
The business scope therefore covered the following areas:
- Project management
- Supply Chain
- Warehouse
- Distribution
- Finance
- Reporting
- Project management
- Production
In functional terms, the project encompassed overall planning, general ledger, fixed assets, cost accounting, production, procurement, extended warehouse and inventory, as well as the areas of project, product management, sales and marketing.
The integration of other software systems was also carried out or is still being completed. These were primarily a LIMS system (in planning), P2P, payroll accounting, Cognos, bank payment and a cost management solution.
The prerequisite was, of course, a validated implementation of the new ERP system, as the company operates in a regulated pharmaceutical environment. The rollouts were initially planned for France, the UK, China and Switzerland with the sites in Aarau, Bubendorf, Hunzenschwil and Vionnaz. However, due to the realignment of business applications at CARBOGEN AMCIS, the roll-out was initially limited to two locations in France.
First, the b4dynamics consultant team created an overview of the process landscape, then the prototype was configured between December and January 2021, followed by a review and readjustment with the help of feedback from various CARBOGEN AMCIS teams. Once the prototype had been successfully created, an implementation request was submitted to management in April 2021. The go-live at the first location was then successfully carried out in mid-2022. The go-live for procurement and logistics took place at the second location in February 2023. The rollout was completed in Aug 2023 with the successful go-live of the production module.
Result
During the internal demos, CARBOGEN AMCIS employees rated the prototype very positively and as a good basis for implementation. The improved performance and user-friendliness as well as the less individualized system were seen as the main advantages. The comprehensive available functionality of Dynamics 365 F&SCM covers a large part of the processes at CARBOGEN AMCIS, many of the current problem areas can be covered with standard functions and further programming can be avoided by using add-ons.
b4dynamics GmbH fully met the customer’s objectives and requirements by creating the prototype of the new ERP system, Microsoft Dynamics 365 on Azure. The postponement and tight schedule of some parallel projects caused by Corona made the cooperation between the customer project team and the b4d project team very challenging at times but did not detract from the mutually professional and pleasant cooperation.
The customer is also satisfied with the successful go-live in mid-2022 at the French site. After initially gaining experience with the system in live operation and completing this phase to their complete satisfaction, a further site with an extended scope of services was put into operation in February 2023.
