The process of managing and maintaining regulatory compliance can be a daunting task for life science and biotech firms. Managing this on top of the usual important aspects of running a business such as accounting and finance, customer relationship management, project management and more means that life science firms are operating in a difficult space.
Thus, life sciences, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and biotechnology firms find themselves relying on numerous tools to assure accurate data, regulatory compliance, and efficient operations.
NetSuite is used by over 36,000 savvy organizations due to its robust finance and accounting features along with HR, CRM, inventory, supply chain, marketing and more. However, using NetSuite for life sciences accentuates NetSuite’s power and flexibility.
From the ability to fulfill orders, manage inventory, and streamline the sales process to managing the customer lifecycle and enabling complex contracts, NetSuite’s numerous features have proven a key business accelerator to Life Sciences firms. NetSuite provides the technology infrastructure to ensure that a company’s processes and data are in line with regulations, making it possible for management to make well-informed business decisions. Plus, NetSuite scales and adapts with your business as you go from research and development, to marketable products, to IPOs and beyond.
NetSuite for life sciences features a customizable solution that delivers the right information to the right people at the right time, while consolidating and automating repetitive tasks. It’s the ideal ERP solution for businesses in the industry.
Inventory Management
Managing inventory and keeping it in check is a key element of the life sciences industry. There are considerable challenges regarding quality control, shelf lives, regulation, margins and more. When still in the R&D phases, without positive cash flow, the pressures to maintain optimal inventory and decrease waste are extremely high.
NetSuite is a great solution for advanced inventory management and allows for automated workflows, reorder points, and other processes that can be set up to run on the cloud. With NetSuite, Life Sciences firms can strategically manage their inventory levels and get a leg up on the competition.
Manufacturing Costing
NetSuite’s Manufacturing module is designed to help biotech companies manage their manufacturing costs, profitability, and compliance. These include modules for Supply Chain, Product & Service, Financials and Control. It also includes an Advanced Manufacturing module, which enables users to automate manufacturing processes and capture costs associated with different stages of the manufacturing process.
In addition to manufacturing costs, this module can also track other resources such as shipping containers, storage units and third-parties. This is useful when tracking any medical inventory levels, as well as when managing resources such as consultants or other service providers used during clinical trials.
Grant Management
In order to solve the issue of grant management, biotech organizations need a system that can track the grant funds and make sure that they do not exceed their budget. Utilizing Netsuite for Life Sciences, firms can track a variety of different grants such as contribution grants, and reimbursable grants (Exchange Agreements). You can record grants in their proposal stage and convert them into billing transactions once you’ve won the grant. Revenue will be recorded depending on the grant type.
Further, you can track grant milestones (past and upcoming), review statements of activity, and get alerts for overdue or unbilled grants.
Lastly, the audit function of NetSuite enables life sciences organizations to trace all costs back to their original sources and see if they comply with the research restrictions.
Compliance
Another significant factor when choosing an ERP system is its compliance capabilities. NetSuite ERP was designed to be highly adaptable, so it can support a wide variety of regulatory requirements that may not be directly related to financials or accounting.
For example, NetSuite ERP can be configured to comply with ISO 27001:2013, PCI-DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard), FISMA (Federal Information Security Management Act), NIST 800-53, HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) and other security standards such as ISO 27002:2013 or ISO 20000:2010. The system should handle any regulation that is required by having its own set of configurable controls. NetSuite ERP is SOX compliant and has the capability of being 21 CFR Part 11 compliant.
NetSuite ERP has a very robust audit trail feature that can be used to track data. This feature is useful in ensuring all transactions are recorded, as well as making it easy for life sciences firms to find any issues or problems with their systems or compliance.
Procurement Management
With NetSuite’s purchasing module, Purchasing Contracts and Blanket Purchase Orders are much easier to manage, ensuring the laboratories are always stocked, and inventory is available when needed. Using NetSuite’s cost tracking capabilities, the life science firm’s purchasing team can make sure they are getting the best price for their products or services. The procurement team can also track how much money is being spent on each product or service to ensure that it is being used efficiently.
Takeaway
Since its inception in 1998, NetSuite has been a leader in the business application software market and has proven itself as a top ERP option for life science companies. ScaleNorth has helped numerous companies, including biotech, pharmaceuticals, and medical device firms scale their business at ease and has developed a deep understanding of the industry.
Our team of certified NetSuite experts can implement and optimize NetSuite for your organization so you can seamlessly scale. Firms on NetSuite easily move from R&D, to go-to-market, to IPO making it the ideal solution for businesses focused on what comes next.
If you’re looking to take your life sciences and biotech firm to the next level with NetSuite, contact ScaleNorth to get started today.