A leading Canadian veterinary products distributor benefits from CGI's Oracle expertise to implement its new management system

"CGI has provided us with high-quality strategic guidance throughout the Oracle implementation project. Not only did the CGI team come with solid expertise, but it immediately demonstrated great determination to succeed, both with us and for us. Its drive was also contagious and contributed in large part to mobilizing all of the project's stakeholders around a major change initiative. We were definitely satisfied beyond our expectations and still benefit from much appreciated support from CGI. This has made the company an indispensable partner for us."

Michel Ferland, IT Manager - CDMV

The Client
Created in 1972 by the Ministère de l'Agriculture du Québec, the Centre de distribution de médicaments vétérinaires (today known simply as CDMV) is a Canadian leader in the distribution of veterinary products: medications, biological products (vaccines), food, and veterinary supplies and instruments. It brings together under one roof everything that animal health professionals need to deliver their services. In addition to its Saint-Hyacinthe facility, CDMV has operated a warehouse in Calgary, Alberta, since 1997. That's why it is the only player in its industry to offer next day delivery service to thousands of Canadian professionals. One of its key strengths is the efficiency of its ordering and distribution systems.

The Challenge
In late 2001, CDMV's management team was looking to rapidly transform the Center's IT environment by implementing a number of key components of the Oracle E Business Suite: general ledger, accounts payable and receivable, inventory, purchasing, order entry, pricing, e-commerce, etc. While the implementation had been underway for some time, it was not progressing as expected. For this reason, CDMV decided to partner with an IT firm that was capable of getting the project back on track. Of the two companies invited to bid on the mandate, CGI was selected because of the project team's experience and depth of knowledge and because CGI met all of CDMV's requirements.

CDMV's IT Manager, Michel Ferland, recalls that "CGI offered a team of integrators and working methods that inspired confidence - and this was all the more important given that our first less than unsuccessful implementation attempt had somewhat added to our employees' resistance to the change. We knew there'd be no third chance. In the months that followed, we realized that we'd made the right choice, particularly when an additional ingredient was added to the mix: our introduction of a new online store adapted to CDMV's service offering and image."

The Strategy
CGI's team of approximately ten experts placed three strategies at the top of its list of priorities when it began its work at the beginning of 2002. The first was to divide the delivery timetable into two main phases, with the initial phase being achieved very quickly (by the first week of June), demonstrating that the project had resumed its pace. This was one of the best ways to win the client's confidence and the full collaboration of all of the key stakeholders. The second strategy was the active promotion of an effective project structure that would see all of the CDMV employees participating in the project freed from their usual jobs for a number of months in order to devote themselves completely to the successful completion of the mandate. The final strategy was the implementation of a systematic process to consult system users in Finance, Marketing, the call center, material management, warehouse management, etc.

In May, CDMV's board of directors adopted another strategy that would see a significant expansion in the scope of Phase 2. They asked CGI to implement the iStore option of the Oracle E Business Suite 11i, with the exception of the modules already ordered. The original specifications had indicated that the in-house remote order-taking application that CDMV had acquired a few years prior would be transferred with no changes. However, while it initially responded well to the needs of CDMV and its customers, satisfaction with the application had rapidly diminished since 2001. As a result, customers had begun to place their orders by phone. Not only did this situation contribute to rising costs, but it also went against CDMV's e-commerce vision.

After evaluating a number of solutions, CDMV's executive team selected the iStore application, which, when integrated with the order taking and material management module of the Oracle E Business Suite 11i, offered many key advantages. Among them were real-time access for customers to all pertinent information via the CDMV Web site and, better still, the real-time updating of orders and stock data. These features were essential for a company whose 24-hour delivery policy constituted one of its most powerful competitive advantages. CDMV representatives also decided to add a function to the iStore application that would allow alternative equivalent products to be immediately proposed to a customer if a selected product was out of stock. In addition, CDMV asked CGI to adapt the application to incorporate the CDMV logo and a number of other details involving the pricing and regulations surrounding the products, for example. And finally, it was imperative that all customers, including those without high-speed Internet access (such as the many veterinarians living in rural regions) be able to easily navigate through the application without having to download massive amounts of data. All of this work had to be completed within the originally established - and ambitious - Phase 2 timetable. The CGI team were therefore headed into a very demanding summer. To assure success, the team opted for a wise strategy: to include Oracle representatives in the project in order to benefit from their specialized expertise in the iStore application.

The Technology

• order entry and pricing
• Application Oracle iStore, version 11.5.6 (followed by 11.5.9)
• E3 Store Replenishment application (JDA Software Group, Inc.)
• Logistics Technologies Shipment Commander transport management application
• Cognos business intelligence tools (PowerPlay and Impromptu)

The Results
The two project phases were completed within the established timetable and budget. All of the new applications, including the new CDMV online store, have been operating since the end of August 2002. The Center has gone from receiving 25% of its orders electronically in the spring of that year to almost 40%. With more than 800 orders placed daily, the online store has become the largest Canadian B2B e-commerce site supported by the Oracle iStore application. "Not only have we not needed to increase staff in our call center," explained Mr. Ferland, "but because the application makes it easier and faster to handle an order online than by phone, our staff are able to focus on other key elements of customer service, providing CDMV with yet another competitive edge in its sector."

In 2003, to make things easier for Internet customers and increase business, CDMV and CGI developed an additional function to allow for the automatic transfer of orders between certain specialized applications (those used most by veterinarians) and the Center's online store. This improvement has eliminated an entire step of the ordering process, much to the satisfaction of the many people it benefits.

As a footnote to this promising launch, CDMV has announced a project to implement the latest version of the applications, which features more added-value functions than the previous version (e.g. online authorization of credit card payments). In this way, the Center is moving to an environment that is not only more powerful, but also more uniform and in accordance with IT industry standards, which will without question streamline its cost structure. "Moreover," explained Mr. Ferland, "the new version will allow us to develop applications and update our pricing strategies in a very effective way. Now that the inevitable period of adjustment to our Oracle environment is behind us, we are not only able to operate more efficiently, but we are also reaping real competitive advantages that are rare in this industry."

"CGI has provided us with high-quality strategic guidance throughout the Oracle implementation project," he concluded. "Not only did the CGI team come with solid expertise, but it immediately demonstrated great determination to succeed, both with us and for us. Its drive was also contagious and contributed in large part to mobilizing all of the project's stakeholders around a major change initiative. We were definitely satisfied beyond our expectations and still benefit from much appreciated support from CGI. This has made the company an indispensable partner for us."