40 years after its foundation, kohlpharma is one of the biggest German importers of patent-protected and prescription-only medicines in Europe and the undisputed market leader in Germany. Founder Edwin Kohl has been focused on essential competitive pricing for the benefit of consumers since the beginning, with the health system saving hundreds of millions of euros each year as a result.
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ヨーロッパで製造されるほとんどの医薬品は国際的な企業によって製造されていますが、これらの企業は通常、中心的な製造拠点を EU 域内に置くことを選びます。このような戦略をとる理由は、税務の要件が緩やかであることや、給与面での競争力の高さなどが挙げられます。医薬品はその後 EU 全域で各加盟国に特有の市場条件下で流通しますが、通常はドイツでの価格よりも安価です。kohlpharma は、他の EU 諸国でのコストの低さを活かし、先発品の製剤をドイツ市場で手ごろな価格で提供しています。これらの先発医薬品は、ドイツでの要件に従ってラベルまたはパッケージが変更されます。結果的に費用が抑えられることで、医療制度に対する負担が軽減され、医師や薬剤師、そして何よりも患者にとってメリットとなります。
kohlpharma は余剰在庫から供給しているため、確実に需要を満たすことが重要な課題です。自社でのコントロールが及ばない理由によって、商品の在庫状況や潜在的な供給の問題は変動する可能性があります。特に、物流に関する課題として、サプライ チェーン全体で常時 2～8 °C で保管する必要があるインスリンやワクチンなどの冷蔵医薬品を、品質が保証された状態で輸送することが挙げられます。したがって、販売から供給までのプロセスが可能な限り最適な形で調整されることがさらに重要になります。このような理由から、kohlpharma はデジタル化の可能性をますます重視するようになっています。
Before a medicine can go into circulation after purchase, there are a multitude of documents to fill out and sign. As a pharmaceutical manufacturer, kohlpharma follows GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices) regulations, which means extensive written documentation for all processes and completed production orders. Correspondence including order placement and contracts, have historically been carried out using analog processes: time-consuming printing, signing, scanning, and emailing. As Johannes Reinert states: “The throughput times, particularly for GMP-relevant documents, are sometimes very long and complex. That’s why we looked for a solution that could accelerate these operations. We were looking for a simplified, digital, single foundation with all our EDP suppliers and service partners.”
“Many of our users are now working from home, which has been a whole new experience for both our home workers as well as those in electronic data processing. I’m delighted to have chosen Dropbox Sign, as it helps me make work considerably easier for both employees at home as well as in the office."
kohlpharma first tried to develop a solution in-house, which wouldn’t just be based around eSignatures but would also map the related workflows. However, evolving priorities resulted delays in completion, so the company wanted to invest in eSignature management. Dropbox Sign proved to be the best solution because of its transparency, simplicity, direct availability, and contractual frameworks. Due to the success of Dropbox Sign‘s cloud-only solution and eSignature API, the company quickly made the decision for thorough testing.
"I saw that Dropbox Sign was the best solution for us. We worked on a small trial to begin with, and quickly felt the benefits of the solution--suitable for solving all the issues we were aware of and that arose during the trial. ” – Johannes Reinert
The Dropbox Sign user interface is intuitive. Step-by-step guidance through contracts and forms is able to ensure that all relevant fields are filled out and all required signatures are inserted. Dropbox Sign can be integrated into any environment, including with individual branding. This immediately helped kohlpharma successfully transition to home working. From verbal ordering to software implementation, the whole process took less than an hour.
“I had the ideal solution for signature workflows ready to go, which meant we could enable and encourage our teams to work remotely. It created the potential to improve business processes and to allow for a higher degree of freedom of work location.” – Johannes Reinert
After the initial tests exceeded all expectations, kohlpharma is already planning the next stage to accelerate business processes and improve working conditions using Dropbox Sign.
将来の計画としては、社内のドキュメント ワークフローだけでなく、必須の社内教育の認定も完全にデジタル化する予定です。これにより、透明性が大幅に向上し、対応するドキュメントを後からデジタル化する必要がなくなります。複数の関係者による署名が必要なドキュメントの場合、電子署名によって、編集者と署名者の両方にとってプロセスが簡素化されます。
Supplier contracts red-lining and signing will also be digitized. Through this process, the contract structures and agreements with suppliers will benefit from template unification. Documents for business customers signed by kohlpharma could exclusively be edited with Dropbox Sign in future
For SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) where production processes are closely regulated, for example, in quality assurance and the EDP quality system, manual signatures will be replaced by their digital equivalent. Now, with its automated warehouses and seamless remote supply chain monitoring, kohlpharma is already a pioneer in the areas of digitalization and automation in the German pharmaceutical industry. They plan to remove all paper-based approval processes as much as possible for the foreseeable future. There’s still a way to go before then, but with Dropbox Sign, they’ve reached a significant milestone. Over time, forms can be converted into Dropbox Sign documents, reducing physical record keeping along the way.
As Johannes Reinert explains: "Looking forward, I’d like to see quality assurance, for example, switched over to digital forms. Digital forms are much easier and can be managed more effectively. Any legally required updates can be made in the shortest possible time, and across all relevant documents, without piles of forms needing to be destroyed. Everything is signed and filled out using seamlessly integrated Dropbox Sign components. So we again benefit in terms of transparency—every single detail in every process will be traceable."
Ask us about Dropbox Sign today. Dropbox Sign is an easy way for businesses to send, receive, and manage legally binding eSignatures. If you need help with choosing the right Dropbox Sign product, arrange a demo appointment and discover how signature-based processes can be optimized in your business.
