EDI for the Dr.Max pharmacies

Pharmacies: so much more than just drugs

Nowadays, pharmacies offer so much more than just drugs. In addition to drugs for the treatment of everyday ailments, clients can also purchase vitamins, dietary supplements, cosmetics, medical aids and even small electronic devices.

To ensure that everything works smoothly and that pharmacies receive sufficient and timely supplies, several players and employees must be involved in the entire process.

Dr.Max moves with the times and modernizes

“It is with respect and pride that we look back at our past and how we have mastered past challenges. We have more than 2,000 employees whose work we value very much, and we are happy to provide high-quality healthcare in all regions of Slovakia. It is imperative that we make progress in other areas as well, especially in the automation and digitalization of business processes. All pharmacies are independent and process a large number of incoming invoices on a regular basis. This is why we have chosen to work with EDITEL. EDITEL is active in the same countries as Dr. Max and can be a strategic partner for us in the entire Central European region in the future,” says Juraj Bóna, director of finance at Dr.Max Slovakia.

Štefan Sádovský, CEO of EDITEL SK&CZ, adds: “In our initial meetings, we discussed how the entire process works from ordering to billing at the pharmacies. In the pharmaceutical sector, the PharmINFO system has been used for years, especially for processing electronic orders and despatch advices as well as for monitoring current stock levels. Deliveries from pharmaceutical distributors therefore mainly involve the automated processing of invoices, but this is an area that is currently barely covered. In Dr.Max’s case, roughly 70,000-80,000 consolidated invoices are generated annually and due to the expansion of the pharmacy network, that number is expected to increase by about 10% every year.” Mr. Sádovský therefore sees great potential for the automation and digitalization of invoicing processes in the pharmaceutical industry, especially for Dr. Max.

EDI makes many things easier

Dr.Max not only sells pharmaceutical products in its pharmacies, but also thousands of goods through its online store, sourced from about 300 different suppliers from various industries (FMCG, electrical, drugstore, etc.). For these suppliers, Dr.Max wants to cover the entire purchasing and logistics process from electronic ordering to automated batching (despatch advices and receipts) to completely paperless invoicing with an EDI solution by EDITEL. EDI is the most universal tool for connecting such a large number of suppliers. Many of these suppliers from other industries have been using EDI for a long time (drugstores, electronics, sports, etc.), meaning that Dr.Max can start exchanging data with them immediately. “This EDI solution will significantly pare down the workload at the accounting department at Dr.Max and other departments involved in the entire process by minimizing manual interventions and reducing the error rate,” says Štefan Sádovský.