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Isdin
Support in Decision Making in Isdin

Company
Laboratorios ISDÍN was established in 1974 by means of a joint venture between Antonio Puig S.A., the leading company on the Spanish market for perfumery, toiletries and cosmetic products, and Laboratorios Esteve, a chemical-pharmaceutical company.
The collaboration between these two companies allowed ISDIN to become the leader of the Spanish dermatology market, a specialist market for which constant research and innovation is unavoidable. The company handles its own R&D programmes and takes part in research projects in conjunction with the other main pharmaceutical companies.
ISDIN's production aims mainly at pharmacies and guarantees coverage through various product lines: Medical, Dermopharmacy, Dentistry, Gynaecology and Paediatrics. One of its most promising experiences is represented by the PHOTOPROTECTION brand, with which it gained a 40% market share thanks to a range that includes over 60 products.
The company's revenues in 2002 were 72 million euros, with an annual growth of 18%.




In part, this growth can be attributed to the company's constant territorial expansion: currently, it is present in Portugal through its subsidiary, and in Greece thanks to agreements with Arriani-Pharmaceutical.
Moreover, it currently reaches the main markets in Latin America through an efficient network of commercial agreements between the subsidiaries and the various specialist distributors.
It was because of this growth process that it was crucial to efficiently and rapidly verify and assess the company's performance in order to guarantee effective support for the decisional processes of individual Managements.

BOARD Solution
If management, and in particular Sales management, is to be correctly handled, it is essential to promptly identify any shift in the performance programmes for the period so that any deviation from the planned objectives is prevented.
This is equally true for Logistics in order to guarantee availability of products, in accordance with the commercial conditions established with the Customer, and company image.
For the Sales Area and for Logistics, it was therefore necessary to develop effective activities and processes that fully respected the company's specific situation. For these reasons, ISDIN used an information model which had been adapted to suit the specific characteristics of its area of business whose source of supply consists of a transactional system. This guaranteed that each company function had immediate access to information in its area of responsibility through and IT-friendly interface.

Sales and Marketing Balanced Scorecard
Every morning the decision makers in Sales, Marketing and Administration management are able to check the latest updates on Revenues, Presales activities and Order status and compare their value and quantity with the forecasts for the period.
The information available can be analysed at any moment according to the various sales prospects (e.g.: by period, Agent and relevant Managers, Customers, Areas and Channels) and/or according to the different product characteristics (Product Line, Brand Manager, Family and Division).
Of the two main analysis environments, the Sales Balanced Scorecard focuses on the activities and operational requirements of the Sales Managers throughout the Spanish territory (connected by IP) and/or at the Central Office. However, the Marketing Balanced Scorecard is also used as an instrument for verifying and evaluating the activities of the Brand Managers responsible for the various Product Families.
In addition to this, a Geographical Analysis can also be carried out which makes it simple to ascertain that ISDIN's customers, almost all of whom are pharmacies (97%), are evenly distributed throughout the Spanish territory. Here, the company analyses the results by "Sales Outlet" and by the "Brick" territorial standard.
To summarise the information already presented, Key Performance Indicators have been created which provide an instant picture of the trends of the main variables compared to the planned objectives.
The reliability of the above analyses data is also guaranteed by a daily comparison between the input files and the data in the system.

Geographical Analysis and information merger with external data
The Geographical Analysis of Sales is an integrated survey instrument which uses as its reference unit historically named Territorial Areas. Market information from external databases is merged with the company's internal Sales information systems. The comparison and combination of the two sources allows the most appropriate Performance Indicators to be identified.
The analysis of ISDIN's sales growth compared to that of its competitors, and the market shares achieved in relation to those planned, are only some of the important main results achieved thanks to the model used.

Geographical Analysis and information merger with external data
The second area of the survey regards Logistics and envisages the integration of different sources of data within a single model, the important variables of which are Stock Management, Production Planning, Process Output and Orders. This model aims at the creation and management of a Stock Shortfall Forecast program (within a 4-month interval) that will forecast the theoretical date on which products will not be available according to ISDIN's particular data flow characteristics and activities.
In relation to individual products, the model used will identify and analyse the frequency and causes of Stock Shortfall and envisages the possibility of associating product non-availability with preset evaluations and User comments.
This is a fundamental analysis targeted at guaranteeing correct Stock management and, therefore, it is directly linked to Customer satisfaction and growth in revenues.

Industry
Pharmaceutical


Application Area
Sales and Marketing Balanced Scorecard






















Fig.1 Business growth by Province
















Fig.2 Market share for each given product






















Fig.3 Graphical representation of Negatives