Challenges: How to Overcome Operational Inefficiencies in Purchase Order Processes?
PT Anugerah Pharmindo Lestari (APL) is a pharmaceutical distribution company serving a wide range of customers, including pharmacies, hospitals, clinics, and other healthcare institutions in Indonesia. As a part of its digital transformation initiative, APL aimed to develop Electronic Purchase Order (e-PO), a web-based platform designed to digitize and streamline the creation and management of Purchase Orders (POs) in a more integrated, secure, and efficient manner. The system is expected to support a paperless culture, enhance transparency, and simplify document tracking and transaction history.
The existing purchase order process relied heavily on manual workflows, using physical documents and sending PDFs via email or messaging apps. This approach created several operational inefficiencies, including difficulties tracking PO status and history, a higher risk of document loss, a non-standardized document format, and administrative processes that still relied on manual records. Additionally, purchase orders and approval requests still originate from multiple sources and platforms, such as eZRx+, Call Center, iDiscount, iJKN, and B2B/RPA systems. Since each platform operated with different workflows and approval mechanisms, data integration was suboptimal, potentially hindering the operational efficiency and transaction data accuracy. Meanwhile, the Branch Regulatory Quality Assurance (BRQA) team was responsible for verifying and approving orders from various sources, so a system capable of integrating all order data into a single platform became essential to streamline operations.
The main objective was to improve the efficiency of the purchase order process while reducing dependency on physical documents and manual archiving. This initiative also aimed to provide a secure, well-documented, and easily traceable system. Furthermore, the new system was intended to integrate multiple order data sources into a centralized platform, enabling accurate, transparent, and easy monitoring for business operations.
Solutions: Designing an Integrated Platform that Optimizes Purchase Order Management
The strategy centered on developing a responsive, scalable, and centralized web-based platform that could integrate with both internal and third-party systems, including SAP. By focusing on this strategy, APL expected to serve a more efficient process in purchase order management.
The project began with a comprehensive requirement gathering and an in-depth analysis of existing business processes to identify business needs and system integration requirements. The findings helped our team to design system architecture, process flows, and wireframes as the foundation of development. The development phase used .NET for the backend system, ensuring scalability, security, and reliability to support complex business operations.
Besides core feature development, the system was integrated with various functionalities, including API integration with SAP and third-party platforms, automated processes via cron jobs, audit trail capabilities, email notifications, document management, and a configurable authorization matrix. These functionalities were required to optimize the purchase order process without delays.
Result: A Centralized Purchase Order Platform for Improved Operational Performance
Through the development of the e-PO BRQA Portal, Suitmedia successfully helped PT Anugerah Pharmindo Lestari digitize and streamline its purchase order approval process, which previously relied on manual procedures. The new e-PO BRQA Portal has become an essential system in supporting APL’s business operations, particularly in ensuring that order management and approval processes run consistently, securely, and scalably to align with the company’s business needs.
