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Carrying and forwarding Agents/Depots/Distributors

Distribution accounts for almost 35 percent of the retail cost of a drug. Yet, it hasn't witnessed much

change unlike manufacturing and R&D in the past decade. The reasons are regulatory impediments

(for instance, the sluggish implementation of VAT), and highly fragmented nature of the distribution

network. But now, the distribution network is on the brink of a makeover. With the introduction of

VAT in most states, the squeeze on domestic margins and increasing government pressure to contain

retail drug prices, the reform in the distribution of Indian pharma is imminent, says a report by E&Y

on Indian pharma distribution. The report, 'Reforms in distribution (Health Quotient)' has

prophesised that the next wave of reform in the Indian pharma sector would be in the distribution

network.

Current State of CFA

The existing pharma distribution setup is highly fragmented as it is based on the two-tier sales tax

structure, namely central sales tax (CST) and local sales tax. To avoid CST, pharma companies have

a C&F Agent (CFA), and company depot in each state to transfer goods as inter-state stock transfer.

According to R B Puri, President of All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD),

the government will remove CST in next three to four years when VAT is implemented across the

country, ushering in a massive change in the distribution network. With VAT, all transactions will

become transparent, and the system will be easy to follow and there will be no inter-state tax

hassles, adds Puri.

Drug distribution in India is layered and regulated. Unlike in the West, where a manufacturer can

directly supply goods at the retail level, products in India move through a chain of intermediaries.

Software based systems for CFAs/Depots/Distributors

Pharma CFA

Pharma CFA has been exclusively developed for the pharmaceutical industry,whose distribution is routed through CFAs, depots and distributors. It simulates

the distribution activities of a CFA, depotor a distributor and takes care of the

daily, monthly and yearly activities of stock accounting, order processing and

customer accounting. It also provides for immediate querying and extensive reporting

facilities. This robust software package helps the users to have a greater control and

up-to-date information on the status of stock, orders, customers, and so on.

Features of Pharma CFA

Supports multiple Company/Divisions.

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User-definable Parameters like:

Debit Note, Credit Note Types

Positive/Negative Stock Adjustment Types

Sales Area/Staff Hierarchy

Sales Targets at Area Level

Stock allocation on FIFO basis

Stock Maintenance at Product/Price/Batch Level

Order wise-Product wise Allocations

Product wise-Order wise Allocations

Flexible Bonus Schemes

Pooled Sales Area Support

Flexible Tax, Discount, Octroi Definition Partial Adjustments in Customer Accounting

Automatic/Manual Debit Notes Generation

Exhaustive Queries/Reports

User and Option Level Security

User-friendly, Multi-level, Context Sensitive Help Support

Modules of Pharma CFA

Masters

Daily Operations

Stock Accounting

Order Processing

Queries

Reports

House Keeping