AxxaPharma, an Argentinian pharmaceutical distributor, claims that since the company's pharmaceutical warehouse in Buenos Aires used RFID technology 18 months ago, corporate profits have increased by 40%, and AxxaPharma attributes this profit growth to the adoption of RFID systems.
Axxa was established three years ago, and its revenue has grown by 250%. The company stated that RFID can help companies cope with rapidly growing business demands by tracking the entire process of reaching various types of pharmaceutical containers from warehouses to sales and shipments to customers.
RFID significantly improves the company's profits and, more importantly, enhances visibility into the supply chain, thereby increasing product safety, said van Gelderen, executive director of AxxaPharma. By tracking each bottle of drug, the company ensures that the drug in the warehouse will not be stolen. The expired drug will not be sold to customers and it will identify whether it will be sold at a low profit.
The system, van Gelderen said, “can increase consumer satisfaction because we can absolutely guarantee the traceability of drug sources and confirm that they are treated professionally in our factories.â€
Axxa Pharmacy was founded in Buenos Aires three years ago and is engaged in the distribution and wholesale of medicines. The medicines are sold to hospitals and pharmacies throughout Argentina. Due to rapid business development, the company moved to a larger warehouse this summer to handle large quantities of medicines.
AxxaPharmacy has been seeking an RFID solution for tracking company-regulated drugs. “The counterfeit drug in the market is running rampant,†said van Gelderen. “The drug supply chain is often vandalized and mixed with counterfeit drugs.â€
Since the drug will be changed several times before it is sent to the consumer, it is difficult to determine the time of mixing the counterfeit drug. Axxa Pharmacy hopes to use RFID to provide electronic records, such as which drugs are provided by which suppliers, and the expiration date of drugs. The company also wants to know that the drugs have not been stolen or manipulated to ensure that the company does not sell expired drugs. Ultimately, the company also hopes to provide such information to suppliers and customers to increase their trust in Axxa.
The program was completed in early 2009 and was provided by BDEV, a software development company, using AlienTechnology tags and readers. The system provides all the features AxxaPharma needs. In addition, the system can track drug profits and ensure that they remain at the company's stated minimum level, said MauroCrovato, BDEV's technical manager.
At the beginning of the application, the company only labeled drugs that were priced above $1,000, and then began labeling all single-product drugs that were priced above $500. Currently, the company labels all drugs that are priced at more than $300.
When the eligible new drugs arrive at the warehouse, they are transported directly to the receiving area; where the workers disassemble the containers and attach an Alien Squiggle label to each drug. The worker then reads the tag using an Alien desktop reader and enters data on the company's back-end system, including the supplier, expiration date, and price.
The reader sends the tag ID code to the BDEV software over the Wi-Fi connection. The software maps the ID code to other data for the drugs posted in the Axxa database. The medicine was then placed on a storage rack. AxxaPharma installs two RFID doors with Alien readers in the warehouse. If someone illegally removes the medicine from the shelf and removes it from the warehouse, the reader obtains the medicine ID code, displays an alarm on the software interface, and sends a notification mail to the relevant person.
When the customer places an order, the order is sent to the BDEV software and the software prints a pick list. Employees retrieve the required drugs based on the pick list, place them in a box on the second RFID workbench, read a tag's ID code from a desktop reader on the workbench, and BDEV software confirms that the drug is prepared correctly. If there is a fast-expired product in the preparation drug, the software sends an alert to the relevant personnel.
The software also compares the purchase prices of drugs and the prices sold to customers to determine whether AxxaPharma meets the required profit levels. If the profits are low, management will receive an alert. The kits are then sent to the logistics department of the warehouse, where they are read again and loaded on trucks ready for shipment to customers. In this way, the system software updates the drug information again - supplemental transit time and destination.
Within the next month, AxxaPharma also plans to allow customers to obtain drug-related data through BDEV software, such as drug suppliers, storage time in the warehouse, and shipping time. The customer can also enter the ID number printed on the front of the RFID tag on the Axxa Pharma website to obtain this information.
"The RFID system is our best management tool available, and there is no doubt that it helps the company to ensure profits." van Gelderen said, "Every time my profit-not-compliant drugs are ready to ship, my BlackBerry will receive prompt messages. Since the medicine has not yet been sent out, the price can be adjusted immediately."
According to van Gelderen, the company uses 2,000-3,000 labels each month.