Background
Nepstar Chain Drugstore, headquartered in Shenzhen, pioneered the concept of chain retailing in pharmacies, and is now a leading retail drugstore chain in China. Established in 1995, Nepstar has grown from a single shop into a chain of 2,000 directly operated outlets covering 69 cities in China as of March 31, 2016. It uses directly operated stores, centralized procurement and a network of regional distribution centers to provide customers with pharmacy services and a wide variety of other merchandise, including OTC drugs, nutritional supplements, herbal products, personal care products, family care products, and convenience products including consumables and seasonal and promotional items. As now it has one headquarters distribution center and 12 regional distribution centers in China, it is in urgent need to capitalize on an efficient tool to improve warehouse and distribution management.
Challenges
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As there are a wide selection of medicines in headquarters and regional distribution centers, manual steps to make an inventory are not only time-consuming but also error-prone.
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To track and find certain medicine in the warehouse takes a long time.
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Those outlets or regional distribution centers cannot keep abreast of the latest stock data. Sometimes they did not place orders from regional distribution centers or headquarters until some kind of medicine sold out.
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It is difficult to summarize total sales amount of over 2,000 chain drugstores. The headquarters has no convenient and quick access to real-time sales status of each outlet, which is not conducive to adjust stock and related strategies.
Solutions
Drug Stock-taking
Each box of drug is pasted with a barcode that distinguishes it from others. Warehouse keepers can hold Chainway PDAs to scan and read barcodes to accomplish stock-taking. Comparing to the traditional operation that a staff walks here and there, holding a pen and paper to write down drug name, category and quantity, this automated way absolutely enhanced working productivity, raised accuracy of stock-taking and improved warehouse visibility.
Intelligent Sorting
Integrated barcode scanning technology, Chainway PDA can automatically identify and record goods information by scanning their barcodes, so that sorting and order picking become quicker and more precise. The mobile solutions not only significantly save time, but also streamlined operations of the entire logistics process.
Data Management
Via backstage information system, administrators can learn sales status of each distribution center whenever they need. Based on customers' actual demand, administrators can adjust the quantity and variety of drug supply in real time. Logistics centers can share resources, in which way best optimizes the allocation of resources for each center, improving management efficiency and service quality.
Effects
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Accuracy and speed of stock-taking has been greatly improved.
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It realizes intelligent receipt and delivery. Eliminating manual operation makes drug order picking and sorting automatic and intelligent.
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Keeping control of the latest stock always ensures adequate supply of drugs.
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It establishes a more sound distribution network system; comprehensively enhances corporate image and service level. It signifies their commitment to bringing health, convenience and a better quality of life to Chinese.
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It has better served the store to capitalize on the robust demographic and economic growth trends in China to achieve a leading brand and market position.
PDA Configuration
P/N: C3000
Functions: 1D, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi
