Otsuka Pharmaceuticals: A complete solution in the Pharmaceuticals industry

Overview
Otsuka Pharmaceuticals is one of the largest research-based healthcare companies in Japan. Otsuka Pharmaceutical Europe Limited, based in London, was established to market innovative products from Otsuka research in key European markets.

Peter Blott, finance manager at Otsuka, knew the existing way of handling expenses would not cope as additional products were introduced and additional salespeople recruited.

In addition to reducing the administrative burden in his department, Peter saw introducing an expense claim solution as an opportunity to improve control and ensure efficient recharging of expenses. He commented:

"A field based sales force will always challenge expense processes because they incur a lot of expenditure in this way and traditional controls are difficult when staff are rarely in the office."

"In addition, we recharge certain expense items to co-promotion partners, so it was very important that we receive complete and accurate data in a consistent format."

Sage business partner
Otsuka is an established client of MultiQuest, a Sage business partner and developer based in Southampton. Peter Blott at Otsuka asked MultiQuest principal Roger Stratford to work with them to find an expenses solution that interfaced with Sage Line 100, their core accounting software.

Roger contacted WebExpenses and arranged a demonstration time for later that afternoon. The WebExpenses salesperson led him through the demonstration over the phone. Roger was impressed at how quick and easy it was to gain an understanding of the product and how responsive the team at WebExpenses were. Peter was in turn led through the same telephone-based demonstration.

Roger and Peter evaluated the available products based on a set of criteria that included ease of administration, credit card upload, interface to Sage, remote access and value for money. They were in agreement that the WebExpenses product appeared to meet all Otsuka’s objectives.

A successful implementation
A successful implementation was completed and all the stated criteria fulfilled. The interface into Sage Line 100 was very simple to install and use. This was the only client side software required, and once set up, postings of expense data are made automatically after running a simple routine to interface with Line 100.

Credit card interface
After the implementation was complete, Otsuka introduced American Express cards to its staff. As a result, they are now reaping the benefits of complete data integrity, from the moment the employee uses the card, through the approval process, to the posting of consolidated expenses data to the appropriate ledgers within Sage.

Conclusion
The implementation has been a complete success and the feedback from users has been very positive. Peter said:

"The sales team has responded very positively and the fact that we are utilising the latest web-based technologies has showed us in a positive light with new employees."

"The benefits to field staff and to the accounts department have been considerable, and our return on investment has exceeded our best case expectation."

Roger Stratford from MultiQuest concluded:

"From my perspective as a Sage business partner, the process has been professionally managed from first contact to a successful implementation. I’ll have no hesitation recommending to other customers that they follow the same path."

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