The transfer of operations to the new system (in the second phase of implementation) lasted 12 days, as the problem of shifting from the Old Coded System (taking over ‘old’ data) need to be resolved, and the process of preparations and system training lasted 4 months in 2 shifts, which included 700 employees (average training period of 7 days per employee). During the transfer to the new system, operations were halted for 10 days, while inventory and a detailed financial harmonization were conducted.
In addition to resistance to change (particularly emphasized with warehouse employees), the most significant problems in the were in the weak experience and quality of consultants who bid in the public tender, the lack of time and the specificity of the pharmaceutical industry (strictly regulated quality of raw materials, the obligation of non-stop production).
During the implementation of the new information system, and in running information systems in general, project organization with the usual participants stands out: the project sponsor, steering committee, project teams, team leader (most often a person outside the information specialization), functional teams and team members. An interesting organizational solution are the validation teams, which are separate from the project teams, and which have the task of control the teams’ work, measuring harmonization with business plans and goals and coordinating the cross-functionality of teams. The validation team is led by a person from Quality Assurance), responsible for validating the information system, while the team members answer to the project manager for coordination and delivery, who is appointed by the director of QA (Quality Assurance). The members of the validation team are also team leaders for the remaining teams in the project. The Information Department in PLIVA has a strategic position in the company, is directly responsible to the company management and is developing as a profit center, meaning that daughter companies are billed for use of the information system and the transfer of the existing system is underway in the daughter companies (roll-out in 2003 in Czech Republic and 2004 in Germany).
Considering that PLIVA has over 1500 SAP licenses, a help desk, ABAB programmers, highly educated employees (18 employees are SAP consultants) and an organizational management for user support, all the conditions have been set for PLIVA to become a SAP Customer Competence Center (certification in progress), which would then reduce the costs of license maintenance on 20%. In 2001, the PLIVA Information Department achieved USD 1 million in revenues. Information strategy stems from the strategic business plans, in which 2% of revenues are earmarked for information, and the IT Committee gives global initiatives and a strategic development direction. In addition to the plans to implement new (SCM, CRM), PLIVA also plans in the near future to create a unique methodology for project management.
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