Pharmaceutical Specialist Engelhard relies on Contract Management Software

Manage contracts centrally, clearly and digitally!

With more than 450 employees, Engelhard Arzneimittel is one of the leading brand manufacturers of OTC medicines (over-the-counter) and is the manufacturer of popular brands such as Prospan® and isla®. As a modern company, it was important to keep adapting all processes and procedures to digital
change. “We wanted a centralized, digital management of the contracts in the company, while at the same time creating and self-managing in the areas and departments,” says Michael Brauers, IT Business Partner at Engelhard Arzneimittel.

There were also other requirements for a suitable solution, which is why a detailed catalog of requirements was created first. For Engelhard Arzneimittel, the must-haves included the central administration of the contract documents in digital records so that all employees can access them at any time according to their authorization, as well as the legally and audit-proof archiving of all documents. One of the employees’ particular concerns was to be able to keep an eye on contractual deadlines and dates more easily, for example, in order to renegotiate contracts in good time and thus avoid additional costs due to compliance with notice periods. In addition, there was a desire for a userfriendly software design with a web interface that could be seamlessly integrated into the company’s existing SAP environment.

Appointments and deadlines under control

For improved workflow and more planning security, Engelhard required automatic date and deadline management. According to the project ma nagers, this also represents one of the key added values that the system offers.

Since contracts usually also result in financial obligations, it is all the more important to keep an eye on all the conditions. This includes the agreed service and consideration as well as dates and deadlines that define the services in terms of time. That is why the contract management system cuContract contains detailed functions to remind you of due dates and payment obligations. There is also the option of storing invoice and payment plans and checking them against invoices. What would have to be laboriously programmed in a document management system is standard in the valantic solution.

Today, those responsible receive timely e-mail notifications when contract or retention periods expire or a notice period is pending. “The implementation of the solution has noticeably accelerated the processes and created the transparency that we had hoped for,” summarizes Dr. Markus Schäfermeyer, Director Information Technology.

Alleviation in administration

As with any change in familiar processes, some processes had to be adjusted during and after the implementation of cuContract. Internal change management at Engelhard helped implement the changed process flows. “Some of the employees were justifiably skeptical because of the additional effort involved in entering the contract at first, but we quickly noticed how much relief the new system brings to the administration and monitoring of contracts,” says Alexander Schumann, who is responsible for contract management in the legal department at Engelhard Arzneimittel.

While in the past many contracts were only available in paper f orm and it was difficult to keep track of deadlines, users now save a lot of tim e: A uniform folder structure ensures an optimal overview and appointments and deadlines are easily surveyed and adhered to. This also applies to the archiving periods and requirements of the GDPR, everything can be specified for the individual contract in the system. The legal department currently manages more than 1,000 contracts.