Work
UCB Distribution Requirements System
XAOP has implemented an information decision system at UCB Pharma to manage the distribution of medical products over a network of regional distribution centers.
The web-based application proposes a shipment plan, based on the Sales-Forecast and History, that the supply chain manager can easily review and approve for execution.
Here is an overview of some features that help in the analysis & decision making:
- forecast calculation per distribution center
- inter depot transfers to further optimize / balance stock levels
- the possibility to choose between different deployment strategies.
- prediction of expiry risk for the coming months.
A number of reports show the simulation results in units, cases, volume, value and cost of transportation.
The input data streams are coming from SAP and a data warehouse, but everything can be populated manually as well (eg. Excel Spreadsheets).
The web application was created with Ruby and the Ruby on Rails framework with a solid Oracle back end.
Testimonial of UCB
XAOP allowed IT to deliver a quality prototype that has evolved into a fully-functional DRP (fair-share allocation module) tailored to suit the business requirements of UCB.
In October '07 , the solution was deployed in India for over 20 customer facing centers.
In November '07 , we deployed an acceptance environment for Belgium and Scandinavia.
The speed and flexibility demonstrated by XAOP using Ruby, undoubtedly made a substantial contribution to the success of the project.
— IT GTSO, UCB
