C-Square with its ability to create advance technology solutions has emerged as the leading solution provider of enterprise-resource-planning (ERP) software & business intelligence (BI) tool for the pharmaceutical industry in India. Sripal Bachawat, Director, C-Square, reveals more about the company’s future prospects to Usha Sharma
Tell us about the ongoing activities of C-Square.
C-Square is a customer-focused and technology-driven company which provides various pharmaceutical companies a comprehensive solution that helps them increase their productivity and operational efficiency. As a software solution company, we have partnered with pharma manufacturers and distributors to help them manage the logistics and retail operations, including tracking the entire sales life cycle of pharma products, right from the manufacturer to the distributor, retailer and finally to the end consumer. The company also offers an effective sales force excellence tool to the pharma industry. It also focuses on value-added services such as business intelligence and analytics services, application development and maintenance, consulting and its BPO offerings. Some of the largest pharma companies in the country trust our software solution for their most complicated distribution tasks. We have over the years laid a strong foothold and customer base across various cities in India.
How Covenant PharmAssist and Cybix Info Systems came together and formed C-Square and what is its relevance?
Covenant PharmAssist was headed by Sripal Bachawat and Cybix Info Systems by Sajith T. Any software unless it is continuously improved upon, will gradually loose its relevance and die a natural death. Bachawat, who had the marketing rights to a supply chain automation software knew his limitations on the technology front, then partnered with Sajith for his expertise in the technology sector. It became even more relevant since Sajith was also operating in the pharma demand side automation in Cybix Info systems. The new company which was formed used the common alphabet ‘C’ and became C Square.
What services do you offer to the pharma companies and who are your major clients? And how much per cent business does it contribute to the company’s balance sheet?
We offer software for C&F’s, C&A’s, super stockist, medical representatives, stockist, retail chains, standalone pharmacies, hospital pharmacies, online pharmacies back end activities etc.
Major players:
Go4Plus: Hedge & Hedge, S H Pharmaceuticals, Lundbeck, Wings Bio tech, Ban labs, Anthem Bio Pharma, Laborate, AFD Labs
GGSFA: Alkem, BlueCross, J B Chemicals, Hegde & Hedge, Hetero, Apex
PharmAssist: Vardhman, Rajsons, Mahaveer Sales Corporation, Meher Distributors, Palepu Pharma, Power Pharma, Kasi Vishwanathan, Tara Medicos, Palod Distributors, Getwell Pharma, Varghese & Company, KN Mathew Group
Retail chain: Emami Frank Ross, Wellness Forever, Noble Plus, Sanyog, Vardhman Health Specialities
Standalone pharmacy: Cash Pharmacy, Avikova, Renuka Medicals, USA Dispendery, Balaji Medicals, Maruthi Medicals, People Medical. Susheel medicals, Sushant Medicals
Hospital pharmacy: AIIMS, Narayana Hrudalaya, Essential Hospital, Nanavati Hospital, Chord Road Hospital
Cyber Pharmacy: Zigy, Netmeds, Ezymeds, Pharmeasy, Emami
Above all put together, 95 per cent + business represents from pharma industry
Over a period of time, C-Square has become a recognised name in the ERP offering segment. Elaborate in detail.
In the growing economy, business houses were moving beyond one roof and this needed a tech support. C-Square understood this phenomenon very early and invested heavily in ensuring that tech should not be a bottle neck during growth phase. In an attempt to help distributed business houses, we ended developing one of the most comprehensive ERP solution for these kind of businesses.
Logistics play an important role in the pharma industry. What role do you play and how competitive is C-Square from its competitors?
Logistics is going through a radical change in the face of the implementation of GST. It is important in the pharma industry which can be tracked better because the industry is quite regulated. The role we play is more of an enabler who offers solutions and empowers pharma organisations to efficiently execute their key business processes in the face of a dynamic market. Our robust architecture, user-friendly tools, industry-specific functionality and highly customised end-to-end solution, help simplify operations, boost productivity, and help companies increase their revenue.
Our solutions are aimed at the SME sector and offer security and features akin to the top of the line ERPs, giving great value for money. The cost of acquisition and the running costs are at a bare minimum. Most importantly the personnel training cost is almost nil as these solutions are very intuitive and on the job training for a few days can make the operator proficient to handle day to day tasks.
Tell us about the company’s in-house developed ERP specialised technology and its significant role in the pharma industry?
Ecogreen+ is retail business chain management solution and can centrally manage n number of stores. The system takes care of all the operations of retail chains including sales, purchase, order processing, sales returns (credit note), purchase returns (debit note), stock transfers (GDN and GRN) (Branch to Branch, Admin to Branch or Vice versa). It’s a complete business solution which manages right from purchasing, selling, reconciliation, controlling to accounting aspects.
Ecogreen is a very powerful tool and takes care of all back-end activities of an online pharmacy.
Which new technologies are in the pipeline and how will it ease the business the Indian pharma industry?
C-Square’s focus is on mobility environment. Retail consumers today are texting, talking, communicating, buying, searching, watching videos and taking photographs all on their mobile devices. On the web front, by integrating their e-Commerce strategies with the mobile environment, retailers and distributors are trying to leverage the mobile channel and add value to clicks from the web and bricks of physical stores. On the store front, in their quest to make the customer in-store experience a memorable one, retailers are once again turning to mobility solutions for checking in the customers as they enter the store, scanning products, receiving offers through mobile coupons, making payments, and producing digital receipts among a host of other features.
With an increasing number of retailers and distributors embracing mobility solutions, from in-store to supply chain, from sales and marketing to decision making levels, C-Square is trying to empower all facets of the retail business.
Which new trends do you see in the market?
Nowadays, online pharmacies are playing a major role in today’s market. Also, new and small enterprises will play an important role in the growth of India’s pharma sector at a domestic level.
With the government implementing track and trace technology to monitor all drug exporting firms, the Ministry of Commerce have been looking into newer technologies that will be deployed this year (2016).
Today, the industry is facing several challenges. Mention two to three topics which needs immediate action and why?
The pharma industry in India is extremely fragmented causing friction and an extremely volatile environment. Companies need to review their products on a periodic basis to ensure more products are made for customers.
Another area of concern is the low margin of profits for pharma companies because of the government’s reforms, the drugs have to be priced at a lower cost to be sold to the public. The government should also consider funding pharma companies.
Also this affects the research and development of companies with low profits made. The investments would be even lower to develop newer products.
Tell us about the company’s future plan.
Our company is a one-stop solution provider for our customers.
C-square has years of experience in developing cutting-edge applications and products for customers that are scalable and flexible to meet today’s business challenges. We use industry standards and guidelines to augment our experience and ensure that every project we deliver is of the highest quality.
We are an ideal partner for companies looking to outsource their IT solutions. Our ability in being a complete solutions provider eliminates the hassle of managing multiple vendors, logistics, and technological bottlenecks for our clients. You can partner with us and transform your business to achieve your business goals. Our customer-centric approach provides maximum value for investment and caters for the long-term benefits of our clients.
- C-Square is working on B2B Integration portal and in its beta launch – it has already processing 20K orders per day.
- Last mile visibility of tertiary sales to be made available to companies for deeper marketing focus
Comments are closed.