PBS deploys Epicor for WA pharmacies

Perth solutions provider Precise Business Solutions (PBS) has survived nearly two years of selection processes to win a $1 million contract to deploy Epicor applications for a rapidly expanding pharmacy chain.

Mark Batina, managing director at PBS, said Perth-based Pharmacy 777 previously had a bad experience with IT implementations so had wanted to take the time to ensure they selected the right solution and the right reseller for the job.

The retail pharmacy company had hired a "totally independent" consultant and the whole process had taken about a year and nine months before choosing PBS' Epicor point-of-sale-based whole-of-business solution from a field of seven contenders, he said.

"They had put in a system three years or so ago and that hadn't worked out well. So really they were not wanting to make another mistake this time," Batina said. "We had to jump through a lot of hoops."

He said PBS was overhauling Pharmacy 777's POS, warehouse, distribution, financials, CRM and business analysis systems by deploying an Epicor Enterprise platform. The platform would also harness PBS' own application for Epicor, Epicor POS.

The Epicor offering was expected to cut Pharmacy 777's inventory needs by up to 10 percent, improve customer service and speed up compliance reporting. The implementation had already started and should be complete by the first quarter of 2006, Batina said.

"I think they have 12 extended hours pharmacies, which work from seven in the morning until about 10 at night. And they might have one that's 24-hour, and another 10 pharmacies on traditional business hours," he said.

Batina said Pharmacy 777 was gearing up for expansion. It planned to open another 10 stores approximately over the next five years.

"Pharmacy 777 hopes to achieve these aggressive goals  without the need to acquire additional staff to support store growth," Epicor Software said in a statement.

 Epicor product would help the retail chain analyse demographic purchasing habits, review revenue daily in different store locations and rapidly report on net profit. It would also help Pharmacy 777 tell which brands were selling better at any one point in time, the company said.

David Speak, business development director and partner at Pharmacy 777, said the firm had wanted an offering that was scaleable, flexible and integratable with its Winifred primacy dispensing software.

"We were impressed with PBS'  ability to back up stated claims on anticipated efficiencies and customise the  Epicor software for our own pharmacy requirements," he said in a statement.

Also, PBS had given a series of "realistic" benchmarks and key performance indicators against each step of a nine-month implementation process, he said.

"It will simply speed up our  ability to gain economies of scale by systemising processes from one central  IT platform location.  Reports on accounts payable, general ledger, and  BAS statements will be automatically generated," Speak said.