Customer
The Finnish Pharmacists' Association
In a Nutshell
Taksa is Finland's Finnish Pharmacists' Association database, which contains comprehensive product information on medicines, herbal preparations, and general merchandise. The Taksa system is used by approximately 600 member pharmacies of the Pharmacists' Association and hundreds of online pharmacies.
Customer
The Finnish Pharmacists' Association
Industry
Pharmaceutical Industry
Services
Specification
Implementation
Implementation
Challenge
Outdated system and poor-quality data
Built on technology nearly 20 years old, Taksa was in need of modernisation. The Finnish Pharmacists' Association sought a ready-made PIM platform that could be tailored to their needs. The aim was to avoid unnecessary customisation to enhance stability and maintainability, while ensuring a long lifespan for the system. Taksa's product information management is a key system for its industry, providing enriched product data to the information systems of all member pharmacies of the Finnish Pharmacists' Association, which constitute the majority of pharmacies in Finland. The product data pertains to medications, making the PIM solution and product information critically reliable—a mistake could be potentially life-threatening for pharmacy customers. — It’s fair to call the project critical: a significant portion of Finnish pharmacies operate based on the information from the system, and if the information within the system is incorrect, the repercussions are enormous, explains Markus Manner, Development Manager at the Finnish Pharmacists' Association.
"I appreciate that Crasman challenges its clients. Their role was crucial in thorough definition and questioning of existing practices. Additionally, they executed the entire project with integrations really systematically and meticulously."
Solution
Modern Akeneo platform and customised product information model
The Association of Finnish Pharmacies had pinpointed Akeneo as their preferred platform, which Crasman possesses extensive experience with. In addition, the Association and Crasman have a long-standing collaboration, making Crasman a natural choice as the system provider. During the project, the importance of the specification phase became particularly evident. Crasman, together with the Association of Finnish Pharmacies and Akeneo, defined the product structure of the PIM system, as well as the integrations and migrations, from which a comprehensive specification documentation for the implementation phase was developed. – I appreciate how Crasman challenges its clients. Their role was crucial in thorough specification and questioning existing practices. Furthermore, they managed the entire project along with its integrations very smoothly and meticulously, Markus Manner explains.
Implementation
The new Akeneo-based Taksa is modern, and thanks to standardised data models, its maintenance and usability are at a high level. The practices and models created during the project, along with vendor independence, ensure that the system's lifecycle is long. Errors present in the previous PIM system were also rectified during the project, thus improving the integrity and quality of the data. – Perhaps the most crucial aspect for the project's success was that the new product information model was thoroughly considered and is future-proof. By defining the product information model in conjunction with the new system, everything was accomplished efficiently and comprehensively, says Lotta Multimäki, Crasman's PIM expert. – The renewal delivers many benefits. The new Taksa ensures that the same product information is available to every information system, regardless of the customer engagement channel. The level of system automation is significantly higher than before. The handling of pharmaceuticals is enhanced, facilitating a broader production of enriched data. Additionally, the system is compatible with the global GS1 standard, which allows for product expansion and the integration of new suppliers into Taksa much more easily, lists Markus Manner.
