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By migrating away from manual processes in their B2B transactions, Chinesepharmaceutical companies can achieve greater supply chain visibility withintheir industry. Sinopharm Medicine Holding Co., Ltd. ("Sinopharm"), thelargest pharmaceutical distributor in China, is already using the platform toincrease visibility into its supply chain operations.
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"As one of the largest pharmaceutical distributors in China, we arehonored to be the first user of China eHealthcare Exchange," said Ma Wan Jun,general manager of the Distribution Division of Sinopharm. "The importance ofthis initiative is multifold -- it has distinct and significant implicationsfor not only improving visibility into our supply chain, but also will speedthe order-to-cash process and will make us a more efficient business partner.China eHealthcare Exchange also can help us increase market responsiveness,improve warehouse management and drive profits and competitiveness in theindustry."
China eHealthcare Exchange leverages Agile Supply Chain's healthcaremarket knowledge and GXS' global B2B e-commerce expertise and technology.Pharmaceutical manufacturers, distributors and retailers now are able toconnect with China eHealthcare Exchange via their company's enterpriseresource planning (ERP) or warehouse management systems to performstandardized electronic data exchange. They also can synchronize productinformation, share information on product development and monitor the statusof transactions.
"Supply chain efficiency is an enormous problem in China's pharmaceuticalindustry due to the geographic distribution of manufacturers and distributorsthroughout the country. In addition, information systems among companies varyand there is no standardized pharmacy product code and data format," said YangJing Yu, CEO of Agile Supply Chain. "While the pharmaceutical industry inChina is seeing tremendous growth, there are strong voices requesting lowerprices for medications. Agile Supply Chain and GXS established ChinaeHealthcare Exchange to provide supply chain protocol and visibility servicesto the players in the industry. This is exactly the right timing for such anendeavor."
GXS Enterprise Gateway provides customers with global business integrationcapabilities, enabling them to achieve 100 percent integration with businesspartners and to automate interactions throughout their trading communities.Its benefits include a single unified platform that manages current businessintegration needs that can be expanded as business needs grow and evolve. GXSEnterprise Gateway also provides real-time supply chain visibility and tradingpartner network optimization.
"In this transforming stage of the Chinese pharmaceutical industry, supplychain efficiency is a key factor to establishing and maintainingcompetitiveness. Taking the pharmaceutical development trend in westerncountries and Japan as an example, we believe manufacturers will outsourcesupply chain management to leading distributors," said Raymond Teh, vicepresident of Asia-Pacific at GXS. "At the same time, we expect drug stores togrow rapidly over the next five years, making integration between retailersand distributors a top
