Dishman Netherlands

Benefiting from the best practices

“In our industry it’s essential to
document all processes transparently.
This is important for compliance with
the American Food & Drug
Administration (FDA) regulations. If
the FDA doesn’t accept your products,
you’re out of business. Most of our
business partners also use SAP
solutions and we realized the best way
to secure our market position was to
use best practices collected in SAP.”
Rob Eijkman,
General Manager, Dishman Netherlands
in SAP Business All-in-One to comply
with exacting FDA regulations
AT A GLANCE
Summary
Dishman Netherlands has discovered that SAP
projects can be done in next to no time through
the successful implementation of SAP Business
All-in-One. The solution supports Dishman in
complying with the stringent FDA regulations.
The plan is to roll-out to other Dishman
branches, the head office in India for example.
Dishman expects to generate considerable
world-wide benefits and cost-savings
efficiencies with the new SAP solution. Dutch
implementation partner Applaza, one of the
most specialized SAP partners in the pharma-
ceutical sector, supported Dishman’s software
implementation in a breathtaking 11 weeks!
Company
• Name: Dishman Netherlands
• Location: Veenendaal, The Netherlands
• Sector: Life Sciences (Pharmacy/Chemicals)
• Products and services: Research &
development and production of Cholesterol
and Vitamin D products
• Revenues: €15 million (2008)
• Employees: 60 (The Netherlands)
• Website: www.dishman-netherlands.com
• Implementation partner: Applaza
Why an SAP Solution?
• Integrated solution for almost every
business critical process
• Transparency
• Ability to harmonise processes
• Flexibility and scalability
• Provides consistent data that can be rapidly
consolidated
• Fewer interfaces
• Allows for world-wide differences in
regulation and legislation
Key Benefits
• Data: accurate and consistent
• Reports: anytime, clear and manageable
• Savings: time and cost
• Minimum risk: reduced manual operations
and paperwork, minimising errors and the
risk of data loss
• Minimum interfaces: fewer required for
information exchange
• Compliance: with exacting FDA regulations
Competitive Advantages
• More efficient operations
• Blueprint for world-wide roll-out already in
Dishman’s possession

Challenges and Opportunities Existing Environment

To comply with FDA regulations Legacy system (SAGE)
Implementation Highlights Third Party Integration
Complex implementation attained within 11 • Database: MS SQL Server
weeks • Hardware: HP
• Operating System: MS Windows
SAP Solutions Server 2007
SAP Business All-in-One with SAP ERP
Baseline (including Business Intelligence), Number of Users
Best Practices for Pharmaceuticals and Plus or minus 50
Applaza Vital add-on Implementation Time
11 weeks

SAP Customer Success Story

Life Sciences
Dishman Netherlands
Benefiting from the best practices
in SAP Business All-in-One to comply
with exacting FDA regulations

Financial administration and controlling, purchasing, stock control, sales, quality management,
maintenance and projects are business critical processes for Dishman, a world-wide pharmaceutical
innovator. This Dutch company has played an important role in the research & development of vitamin D
products for almost seventy years. Dishman started after World War II with the production of
cholesterol from wool grease. Dishman developed into a well respected R&D and pharmaceutical
company manufacturing important Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API’s), related to vitamin D,
and different grades of cholesterol for the cosmetics and shrimp feeds markets.

Today Dishman Netherlands, having been
taken over by Dutch companies like Philips-
Duphar and Solvay, is an important branch
office of the India based Dishman
Pharmaceuticals & Chemicals Limited.
Through the successful roll-out of SAP
Business All-in-One, the Dutch office has
discovered that SAP implementations need
be neither ‘frightening’ nor ‘long-lasting’
(read: extremely costly!). The SAP solution
“I’ve been involved in other ERP implementations that took more time.
However, because SAP offers the ASAP Focus method to implement the
‘ERP baseline’, complex and long lasting blueprints for ERP projects are no
longer needed.”
Jan Willem Bartz, Managing Partner Applaza
supports Dishman in the Netherlands in
complying with the stringent FDA-
regulations. It is planned the solution will be
rolled out to other Dishman branches in the
future, such as the head office in India.
Dishman expects the new software suite to
generate considerable world-wide benefits
and cost-saving efficiencies.
Implementation partner Applaza, one of the
most specialized SAP partners in the Dutch
pharmaceutical industry, supported
Dishman’s new solution implementation in
an almost world record time of 11 weeks.
Trendsetter since 1946
Rob Eijkman, General Manager Dishman
Netherlands: “By developing medicines, for
example for diseases like psoriasis, and
food supplements for commercial shrimp
cultivation, Dishman Netherlands has been
a trendsetter in the pharmaceutical and feed
industry since 1946. Until 2007 the Dutch
branch was part of multinational Solvay and
was located in Weesp. In 2007 Solvay
made a strategic move and decided to sell
our highly innovative technology and
knowledge to the India based Dishman
Pharmaceuticals & Chemicals Ltd.”
Highly competitive industry
Eijkman continues: “Our long history in
R&D had been fading away a little bit in our
Solvay days, but was completely
regenerated when Dishman decided to
purchase our technology and knowledge.
Dishman wants to invest a lot of capital in
R&D, production facilities and the newest
information technology in order to become
a frontrunner in our highly competitive
industry. An integrated, proven enterprise
resource planning solution was key to
realizing our growth ambitions. In our
industry it is essential to document all
processes transparently. This is important
for compliance with the American Food &
Drug Administration (FDA) regulations. If
the FDA doesn’t accept your products,
you’re out of business. Most of our
business partners also use SAP solutions,
so we expected the best way to secure our
market position was to use best practices
collected in SAP. In our long Solvay history
we had already learned that SAP always
met our expectations. And again, we
thought SAP should play an important role
in our strategic growth plans.”
Upgrade the legacy ERP
After moving from Weesp to a historical
production plant in the centre of
Veenendaal, Dishman Netherlands was
looking for an upgrade of the legacy ERP
system SAGE. We knew that with SAGE it
would be difficult, or even impossible, to

comply with the strict FDA guidelines in
future. It became quickly apparent that
specialized Dutch SAP implementation
partner Applaza was the best partner
Dishman could wish for. Mark Ipema,
Operations Manager at Dishman
Netherlands, said, “We were looking for an
implementation partner with proven
experience in our industry and a scale that
fits ours. SAP advised us to contact
Eindhoven based Applaza because they had
a good track-record in the pharmaceutical
industry.”
Support all business critical
processes
The SAP solution had to support all
business critical processes. “But that’s not
enough for good governance and
compliancy.” Ipema explains: “All our
administrative documentation must be
easily traceable and our processes have to
be transparent and verifiable. In short: we
want to be in a position where we’re able to
provide all involved authorities with
documents that will always be in
accordance with our process descriptions.
Alternatives, such as SAGE, JD Edwards,
PeopleSoft or Microsoft solutions, needed
a lot of tailor-made fine-tuning before they
would offer the functionality and integration
we needed and expected.”
No blueprints needed
Because Dishman’s fiscal year runs from
April to April, Applaza was forced to gear up
if it was to implement SAP in time. Jan
Willem Bartz, Managing Partner at Applaza,
while checking his electronic diary: “My
first meeting with Dishman’s was on the
16th December 2008. The complete project
team kick-off was on the 8th January 2009.
The project went live in April 2009. I’ve
“What has struck me most is that with SAP we’ve already reduced our stock
inventory by about €600,000 and probably even more in future.
These are huge money-savers that surely add up, especially in the current
economic climate.”
Mark Ipema, Operations Manager, Dishman Netherlands
been involved in other ERP implementations investments pay back soon. I’ve personally
that took more time. However, because experienced that my work has become
SAP offers the ASAP Focus method to easier to survey and colleagues, who are
implement the ‘ERP baseline’, complex and involved in reporting, appear to need less
long lasting blueprints for ERP projects are time to do the same work, now they can
no longer needed. We just needed a few dedicate themselves to other productive
enhancements to fine-tune SAP to fit with activities. What has struck me most is that
Dishman’s processes. Besides, Dishman is with SAP we’ve already reduced our stock
one of the first Dutch companies that has inventory by about €600,000 and probably
used the SAP Netweaver Business Client even more in future. These are huge
to develop user interfaces that are money-savers that surely add up, especially
completely tailor-made to meet end users in the current economic climate. I guess our
needs. And that’s given this project a lot of head office in India must be very eager to
support in the Dishman organization.” implement SAP. I expect Dishman
Netherlands and Applaza shall play an
Quality of SAP software important role in the world-wide roll-out of
Ipema agrees with Bartz: “I think an this SAP ERP solution. We’ve documented
implementation time of 11 weeks says our approach in a short blueprint that’ll
enough about the quality of SAP software, substantially simplify this roll-out.”
best practices and methods. Furthermore I
have experienced that my colleagues were
very keen on making this implementation a
success, because they understood
immediately what added value SAP would
be for the work pressure they were
experiencing before the implementation.
The most heard reaction on the production
floor: ‘This was a cool project.’ My
colleagues were doing overtime without
complaining whatsoever. It really was a
smooth operation. The management didn’t
have any worries about this ERP project.
Just because they were keen on using the
extra functionality SAP offered them as
soon as possible.”
Investments will be paid back
soon
The first financial results are expected soon
and Ipema anticipates the SAP return on
investment will show healthy long-term
dividends. “We’ve been a pilot for all
Dishman branches world-wide. Our
SAP Nederland B.V.
Amerikastraat 10
5232 BE ’s-Hertogenbosch
Postbus 3292
5203 DG ’s-Hertogenbosch
T + 31 (0)73 645 75 00
F + 31 (0)73 645 73 00
www.sap.nl/mkb

Logo Trebing + Himstedt

Applaza B.V.
Luchthavenweg 99-G
5657 EA Eindhoven
T + 31 (0)40 206 62 20
F + 31 (0)40 206 62 21
www.applaza.nl

50 xxx xxx (YY/MM)

©20YY by(09/06)
3440940 SAP AG. All rights reserved. SAP, R/3, mySAP, ­mySAP.com,
©2009
xApps, by SAPSAP
xApp, AG. NetWeaver,
All rights reserved. SAP, R/3,ByDesign,
Duet, Business xApps, xApp,
ByDesign,
SAP NetWeaver,
PartnerEdge, andDuet,
otherSAP SAPBusiness
products ByDesign,
and services PartnerEdge,
mentioned
and
hereinother SAP
as well asproducts and services
their respective mentioned
logos are trademarksherein as well as
or registered
their respective
trademarks logosAG
of SAP areintrademarks
Germany andor registered trademarks
in several other of SAP
countries
AG in Germany
all over the world.andAllinother
several otherand
product countries
serviceallnames
over the world. All
mentioned
other
are theproduct and service
trademarks of theirnames mentioned
respective are the
companies. trademarks
Data containedofin
their respectiveserves
this document companies. Data contained
informational purposesinonly.
this document serves
National product
informational
specificationspurposes
may vary.only. National product specifications may vary.

These materials are subject to change without notice. These materials

are provided by SAP AG and its affiliated companies (“SAP Group”)
for informational purposes only, without representation or warranty of
any kind, and SAP Group shall not be liable for errors or omissions with
­respect to the materials. The only warranties for SAP Group products
and services are those that are set forth in the express warranty
­statements accompanying such products and services, if any. Nothing
herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty.