case-study-04

Client Overview

Client is a fast-growing pharmaceutical company based in Germany, specializing in generic drugs, R&D, and clinical distribution across Europe. The company had expanded rapidly through acquisitions and product launches but was held back by legacy systems and disconnected operations.

Business Challenge

Client faced significant operational hurdles due to:

Disparate legacy systems across departments and subsidiaries
Manual reporting and reconciliation, leading to delayed financial close
No centralized inventory visibility across production units, warehouses, and contract manufacturers
Compliance and audit challenges in adhering to EU GDP and GMP guidelines
Inability to scale operations for multi-country rollouts and product launches

Leadership needed a modern, cloud-based ERP to unify their core business functions, improve compliance, and support future growth.

Solution: NetSuite ERP Implementation

Our consulting team was engaged to deliver a full-cycle NetSuite ERP implementation, tailored to the pharmaceutical industry’s unique operational and regulatory needs.

Modules Implemented

Finance & Accounting
- Multi-currency, multi-country setup
- Automated consolidations & intercompany transactions
- Audit-ready financial controls
Inventory & Supply Chain
- Lot tracking, batch management, and expiry controls
- Cold chain compliance workflows
- Procurement automation across CMOs and 3PLs
Manufacturing & BOM
- Formulation management
- Quality inspection checkpoints
- Work order routing and costing
CRM & Sales Operations
- B2B order processing and distributor management
- Contract pricing and rebates tracking
Regulatory Compliance & Validation
- GxP-compliant system validation approach
- Electronic signatures and audit trails (21 CFR Part 11 support)

Implementation Highlights

Phase	Key Activities
Discovery & Design	Requirements workshops across 6 business units; Fit-gap analysis for pharma needs
Build & Configure	Custom scripts for regulated inventory, country-specific tax compliance
Data Migration	Consolidated 8+ legacy systems into NetSuite; Cleaned master data
Validation & Testing	IQ/OQ/PQ testing for compliance; Full UAT by finance, ops, and QA teams
Training & Go-Live	Role-based training; Hypercare support for 4 weeks post go-live

Results

KPI	Before NetSuite	After NetSuite	Impact
Month-End Close	15+ days	5 days	67% faster
Inventory Accuracy	~82%	>98%	Improved traceability
Time to Fulfill Distributor Orders	3-5 days avg	<2 days avg	Faster delivery & happier clients
Audit Readiness Time	Weeks	Real-time	Seamless compliance reporting
Integration Points Reduced	10+ systems	1 unified platform	Simplified IT landscape

Client Testimonial

“

NetSuite gave us the platform we needed to unify our operations and remain audit-ready at all times. The team not only delivered the implementation on time, but also understood the nuances of pharma regulations. This wasn’t just an ERP go-live—it was a transformation "

Lena Schröder,
CFO