Sage PFW for Specialty Chemical Industry

• Sage PFW ERP, the Sage Software process manufacturing solution for the mid-market, provides companies in the specialty chemicals industry a competitive edge in meeting key strategic objectives. Because Sage PFW ERP reflects over 20 years of continuous development in helping customers succeed, it is widely recognized as the industry defacto standard for functional richness. The following are highlights of Sage PFW ERP strength by strategic need.

Industry Consolidation

The fine chemicals industry is growing at an annual rate of up to 10 percent for the foreseeable future. With several hundred companies active in the field, it's still a fragmented market, with the top 25 companies accounting for just under 25 percent of its total value. Fragmented markets and margin pressure create a natural desire to consolidate in order to bring economies of scale into the competitive mix.

	Comprehensive Quality Control - From formulas through production and ticketing, quality control is coordinated through the streamlined integration of Sage PFW ERP modules
	Customization Capabilities - Customization capabilities provide enhanced batch-ticket functionality
	Flexible Batch Status - Variable batch size and status options enable streamlined batch management
	Insightful Reports - Extensive, instant reporting capabilities keep you on the pulse of your company’s operations
	Powerful Automation - Automated scheduling and lot tracking capabilities ensure that production stays on track
	Flexible Formulas - Extensive formula capabilities empower your technicians with the tools they need to cost effectively develop and analyze formulations cost effectively
	Powerful Formula Utilities - Powerful utility options extend formula management capabilities for maximum functionality

Whether you are a public or closely held company, consolidation is a fact of life. Sage Software understands that in order to deal with consolidating competition, you need speed, flexibility, innovation, and superb customer service. That’s why we’ve designed Sage PFW was designed to provide advanced functionality to “level the playing field” through:

	Formula Revision Tracking
	Formula Sizing
	Formula Storage and Retrieval
	Multi-Level Ingredient
	Master Formulas Format and Printing
	Quality Control
	Unit of Measure Conversion

Globalization of the Supply Chain

The major pharmaceutical companies operate globally and would prefer to work with partners that also operate on that scale. As a global company itself with operations in 56 countries, Sage Software is uniquely qualified to assist specialty chemical manufacturers with the complex demands that far-flung supply chains place on vendor quality management, recipe and formulation management, lot tracking and EDI. Sage PFW manufacturing provides many powerful capabilities through its advanced features to help chemical companies deal with global sourcing:

	Multi-currency capability
	Multi-language
	On-water tracking using Serialized Shipment Container Codes
	Automated vendor lead-time management
	Enterprisewide planning and budgeting
	Vendor quality management
	EDI
	EDI
	Material Requirements Planning
	Lot tracking by lot number, bin number, expiration date
	Full AP integration
	QC test results entered upon receipt
	Contract management
	Support for formulation and batch size adjustments for ingredient potency
	Monitor Key Performance Indicators for currency fluctuations, outstanding payables, days inventory in transit with business alerts

Meeting Regulatory Demands

In today’s competitive environment, compliance issues represent another key strategic front. Pharmaceutical customers will outsource to companies that can ensure compliance with all environmental, safety, and FDA regulations. In support of companies with active participation in the industrywide Responsible Care® program and ISO 14001 certification for environmental management, Sage PFW manufacturing provides fine chemical companies support for regulatory management with:

	Streamlined MSDS Automation - From automatic MSDS generation and updates to physical property calculations, you’ll experience a higher level of streamlined efficiency in MSDS compliance
	Powerful Customization - Sage PFW ERP puts you in complete control of the format and content of your Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) including accommodating new regulations and supporting multilingual needs
	Insightful Reporting - Extensive reporting capabilities include SARA Title III, Title Tier I & II, Boilerplate Masterfile Variance, Boilerplate Where-used in Override, as well as, Supplementary

Rapid Response to Customer Needs

Pharmaceutical customers want flexibility. They want suppliers that can produce small quantities, sometimes just a few kilograms for trials. They also want suppliers that will rapidly gear up for production. Suppliers need employees, ERP software, pilot plants and production facilities that are all flexible. Fine chemicals companies also need to be reliable. Getting products to market quickly is vital for pharmaceutical customers. They want suppliers that can produce the right quantities and are efficient enough to keep costs down. Sage PFW ERP is specifically designed to allow you not only to be faster and more accurate in operations but also to be able to react flexibly to customer needs:

	Customer history
	Contract data
	Custom pricing tables
	Production data
	Inventory data
	Substitution data
	Option to launch batch orders from order entry
	Advanced material planning features
	Material shortage analysis wizard
	Seven different methods of automated batch sizing
	Automatic unit of measurement for formulation and batches
	"Backflush" material requisitioning
	"After-the-fact" purchase order processing for expedited purchases
	Option for formulation adjustments on batch ticket
	Automated Material Safety Data Sheet maintenance and printing