As a supplier to the pharmaceutical industry, AFC must operate in full compliance with the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP). The company is automating many aspects of its quality system with Oracle Process Manufacturing, which allows it to standardize and control its end-to-end manufacturing processes. As important, AFC uses Oracle Process Manufacturing and Oracle E‑Records to help ensure an audit trail of materials, as well as manufacturing and distribution processes, by providing a framework for securely capturing, storing and printing 21 CFR Part 11-compliant electronic records and signatures.

"Oracle E Business Suite is a critical element of our strategy to maintain operational excellence in all aspects of our business," stated Dr. Aslam Malik, president of AFC.

"We looked at several enterprise application vendors, including SAP and Ross," said Paul Kane, AFC's chief financial officer. "Only Oracle offered a solution that could meet our unique needs as a process manufacturer in the life sciences industry. In fact, Oracle Process Manufacturing is so well suited to our industry and business that we completed implementation and validation of our new system in just six months - enabling faster return on our technology investment."  

Beyond automating its quality system, AFC is using Oracle Process Manufacturing to drive greater operational efficiency and productivity in its manufacturing operations. With Oracle, the company is automating core manufacturing management processes and building a single source of information that enables visibility across the entire manufacturing lifecycle - from scheduling and work-in-progress through distribution, release to customer and invoice payment. The Oracle Applications have also been integrated with the company's

materials requirements planning (MRP) process to improve scheduling and help ensure that the correct raw materials are at the appropriate manufacturing facility when needed - enabling the company to reduce the risk and expense involved with storing excess inventory of raw materials.

Extending Financial Visibility; Improving Productivity

AFC implemented Oracle Financials including Oracle Cash Management, Oracle Fixed Assets and Oracle Advanced Procurement to create a flexible and scalable financial management infrastructure that can support the company's rapid growth. Previously, the company relied on a legacy system that could not accommodate the inventory management and cost accounting requirements associated with a process manufacturing environment. As a result, AFC managed many of its financial processes manually via a series of spreadsheets - a time consuming process that complicates in-depth analysis.

With Oracle, AFC has automated core financial processes and extended visibility into critical data across the enterprise to drive improved efficiency and more informed decisions. The system has built a solid foundation that will support the company as it launches its Sarbanes-Oxley compliance initiative.

"Oracle Financials has enabled us to streamline and improve the accuracy of our cost accounting, accounts receivable and accounts payable processes," Kane said. "We reduced the potential for error associated with re-keying information and cut the time necessary to complete certain processes, freeing up our staff for other important initiatives. As important, managers throughout our organization have the financial information they need at their fingertips when they need it to help them make better decisions. They no longer need to ask the accounting team to run a report."

Trusted Partner Hosts Implementation

AFC selected Business & Decision, an international consulting company, to guide it through its implementation and host its Oracle E-Business Suite solution.  Business & Decision was involved with the initiative at every stage of the process - from identifying the best solution for AFC's needs to completing documentation and managing the training process.

Mapping and analyzing key business processes were important components of Business & Decision's work with AFC as the company wanted to minimize customization to reduce implementation costs and accelerate deployment.  The process design component, therefore, was critical because the company had committed to adapting its business processes to fit the best-practices supported by the software.

AFC also selected Business & Decision to host its Oracle Applications to help ensure compliance, reliability and predictable IT management costs. Business & Decision has a unique set of security functions and quality management systems designed to streamline compliance in the highly regulated life sciences market.

"Business & Decision has been a trusted partner throughout our enterprise resource planning initiative, providing sound counsel and technical expertise at every step in the process," said Kane. "The company and its consultants have demonstrated strong knowledge of our industry and its regulatory compliance requirements - a factor that significantly accelerated our deployment."

"We are delighted to contribute to the success of the implementation of Oracle E-Business Suite for AFC.  We are genuinely proud to have helped select, design, deploy and now host these critical applications for a regulated environment," said Robin Kearon, chief executive officer of Business & Decision, North America.