When one of the major pharmaceutical distribution companies decides to go digital, it is not only a real revolution, but it also marks the beginning of the continuous flow of billing and approval. The investment in Input For You’s solution paid for itself within a year and a half. “The return on investment was faster than expected,” says Carl Beernaut, head of CERP’s IT department.

Three or four times a day, 70 CERP vans leave to deliver to pharmacists. The speed with which an order is delivered to a pharmacist is impressive. CERP beats parcel delivery services with ease. Within hours, the requested medication is delivered to the pharmacy. For a pharmaceutical distribution company with more than 28,000 different products, this is a real tour de force, supported by flawless logistics and an automated network.

CERP, with an annual turnover of approximately 300 million euros, has four distribution facilities in Anderlecht, Haren, Tournai and Courcelles. The crucial element in pharmaceutical distribution is accounting. Laboratories sometimes venture to change the price of products without prior information. Until the beginning of 2020, invoices were manually checked on paper and then approved or rejected. With more than 5,700 invoices per month, this was no cakewalk!

CERP chose Input For You to begin its digital transformation. ”Of course, there was a lot of preparation, but within five days, everything was up and running. It was lightning fast,” says Carl Beernaut. Input For You handled the automatic recognition of the header, footer, product, price, codes and other elements. Suppliers were also involved. Today, 90% of invoices arrive digitally. 1 in 10 is still on paper. And this has clearly accelerated the digital process: 2 out of 3 invoices are processed without human intervention. The goal is, of course, to go even further.

CERP is already happy with Input For You’s service with a strong SLA: a 24-hour response to any problem. “They have embraced the challenge. There have only been a few minor issues. At first, I called them several times a day, but that was months ago,” says Carl Beernaut.