Torrent Pharma IT Enables Environment With SAP

Kevin Jung





Torrent Pharma IT Enables Environment With SAP
By Julia Fernandes
Mumbai, Oct 19, 2004


Torrent Pharmaceuticals Ltd., the flagship of the Ahmedabad-based, Rs 3,000-crore Torrent group, has successfully deployed SAP R/3 4.7 across its entire gamut of business locations globally and integrated it with its Sales Force Automation solution.

Speaking to CXOtoday, Jyoti Bandopadhyay, vice president-information technology, Torrent Pharmaceuticals, said, "We have managed to successfully create an IT-enabled business environment through the deployment of SAP R/3 and interlinking it with our homegrown Sales Force Automation solution."

Elucidating further he continued, "The sales force solution caters to a 2000 strong field force with the underlying principle of anywhere computing."


Sharing his observations on the inherent impact of the ERP on the companyÂ’s business, Bandopadhyay said, "We expect an increase of 10% topline growth and 4 to 6%bottomline growth over a period of three years."

The ERP sits on Oracle 9i, with the OS at the server level being IBMÂ’s AIX and Windows XP and 2000 running at the desktop level. Deployed across more than 300 users, it has been implemented at more than 40 locations in India comprising of 15 contract manufacturers, two factories and 25 Clearing and Forwarding (C&F) agents.

Revealing the recipe of the success of SAP deployment, Bandopadhyay stated that strong leadership coupled with robust team building and inculcation of user ownership are the vital ingredients.

Expressing his views on the process of implementation, Bandopadhyay observed, “At the core of an ERP deployment is change management -- the process of controlling changes to the infrastructure in a controlled manner, with minimum disruption.

The ERP deployment, which commenced in November 2003 was completed and rolled out by July 2004. The project was completed within the budgeted cost and time, with SAP and IBM providing the technical support. More than 400 people have been trained on the use of the ERP.

The Rs 513 crore Torrent Pharmaceuticals commands a strong presence in the cardiovascular (CV) and central nervous system (CNS) segment. The healthcare company has also carved a space in the gastro-intestinal, diabetology, anti-infective and pain management segment.