This case study discusses how Chainformation implemented franchise software and franchise intranets at one of Sweden's largest pharmacy networks.

1. www.chainformation.com
Customer Case
1
Business
Retail pharmacies
Active markets
1 country, 30 units
www.vardapoteket.se
Helping Vårdapoteket Build a More Effective
Pharmacy Network With Franchise Software
With CCM by Chainformation, Vårdapoteket no longer has to work
across three or four systems, and has overcome the challenges
posed by inheriting legacy systems with insufficient capabilities. The
company has seen a significant drop in e-mail communications and
store managers are able to make swift changes by relying on key
performance indicators behind provided on a daily basis.
About Vårdapoteket
Vårdapoteket was founded in 2010 as part of the Swedish Government sell-off of its
former pharmacy monopoly.
The operation consists nearly 30 outpatient dispensing pharmacies concentrated in
central and southern Sweden. At its inception, Vårdapoteket had annual sales of over
1900 MSEK (280 MUSD) with a headcount of 3300.
Vårdapoteket’s core business is to operate pharmacies strategically located in close
proximity to where patient healthcare is provided, i.e. hospitals.
Vårdapoteket also provides medication, and manufacturing capabilities of medication,
with the vision to be “the best partner to the healthcare industry”, whilst providing
consumers with a full service pharmacy experience.
Operating as a nationwide pharmacy brand with an award-winning visual identity,
Vårdapoteket applies a disciplined approach to branding which relies on consistency
and the implementation of a central framework, use of common operations manuals,
training and the ability to distribute content seamlessly across operations.
Said a company spokesperson at the inception of Vårdapoteket in 2009: “We want
to create a strong pharmacy player operating close to care provision, offering a
comprehensive range of products and services for patients, their relatives and care
staff in partnership with healthcare providers”, also adding, “The employees and staff
of these pharmacies possess long-term, in-depth experience, and we are convinced
that there will be a wealth of good ideas that we can utilise and develop together”
Business Challenge
A pharmacy store operation is a unique retail environment which keeps pharmacist
locked into a specific work environment and work station from which all work related
information needs to be available. This includes updates about medication, patient
details and important information about products recalls.
A typical pharmacy staff member is equipped with highly advanced pharmaceutical
skills and a broad computerized work methodology.

2. www.chainformation.com
Customer Case
2
However, the company had inherited an outdated legacy ERP system from the
government, and did not have an effective way to communicate important information
to its staff.
To become truly competitive and effective, the company recognized it would need to
rely on cutting edge software both for ERP, and for daily operations.
As the pharmacy chain began moving assertively to leverage its size and build a
nationwide brand, Vårdapoteket took the decision to implement a new ERP system
replacing the old one. Once the team agreed on the implementation of a new ERP
system, it was decided to implement a franchise software side by side that would help:
• Bring together communications into one single platform
• Store, share, and maintain manuals, documents, and assets in a one-stop platform
• Work alongside the ERP system and make available key sales data on a daily basis
According to Tobias Ekros , Sales and Assortment Director at Vårdapoteket, “Managing
a multi-store pharmacy network which deals with products that are often life critical,
and customers/patients that have a condition emphasizes the need for communicating
quickly and effectively. With limited resources to develop our own solution, we
determined quickly that we needed to implement an intelligent software platform
that facilitated our day-to-day communications in real time. CCM by Chainformation
was ready out of the box at an affordable rate. More specifically, it was perfectly suited
for a chain like ours.”
This approach would set it apart from the competition and
provide what Chainformation terms “distinctive capability,”
a pharmacy’s unique formula for business success aimed
at securing brand compliance while outperforming the
competition.
For help in realizing an Intranet-based communication
platform, Vårdapoteket wanted to team with a partner that
would bring not only expertise in technical environments and
system integration, but also bringing a deep understanding of
the retail industry.
Chainformation was the logical choice. Over the past twelve
years, Chainformation has provided retail- and franchise-
software for some of Scandinavia’s largest franchise- and
retail-chains, including industry leaders such as IC Company,
Colorama and IKEA.
How we helped
In partnering with Chainformation, Vårdapoteket were
able to leverage a retail specific solution based on proven
technologies.
By implementing CCM by Chainformation, Vårdapoteket were able to provide its
pharmacists and other staff with a high powered Intranet that functions main delivery
vehicle for know-how, business data and content for the daily operations including:
• Faster, role-based communication
• Brand and Identity Guidelines
• Marketing Design Templates and Execution tools
• Daily Sales Reporting via cell phone
“CCM by Chainfor-
mation was ready
out of the box at
an affordable rate.
More specifically, it
was perfectly suit-
ed for a chain like
ours.”
Tobias Ekros,
Sales and Assortment Director
Vårdapoteket

3. www.chainformation.com
Customer Case
3
While CCM is ready to be used out of the box and can be implemented in just 2-4
weeks, Vårdapoteket worked with Chainformation’s team of development experts to
realize a number of features.
With nearly 30 stores to oversee, Vårdapoteket felt that it was extremely important
to streamline the KPI’s and key figures that could be provided as a daily check point
to all stores.
“Having partnered with Chainformation since our inception, we have continuously
workedwiththeirteamofexpertstoaligntheCCMplatformwithourbusinessobjectives
and creating useful tools for our staff. For instance, using CCM by Chainformation, we
are able to pull KPI’s directly from our ERP system and share that information directly
to the cell phones of our store managers on a daily basis,” says Tobias Ekros,
Another popular component is the chat function which allows stores across the
network to provide bench learning and best practices.
Forinstance,employeesusethechatfunctiontoshareknowledgeregardingwarehouse
control, homecare and work processes.
Some of the information shared via CCM is either confidential or business sensitive.
CCM franchise software is completely role-based so that users will only see what
they need to see. For instance, CCM captures critical sales information which is made
available only to the central finance department.
More than just a gatekeeper of confidential information, role based communications
ensures that employees are not over-informed. This is extremely useful for the
pharmacy channel, which employs several different job functions in the store
environment.
How the implementation was done
In rolling out CCM in the Vårdapoteket network,
Chainformation was committed to designing, testing and
implementing CCM with minimal disruptions to existing daily
business.
Chainformation deployed a team of professionals who were
involved in all aspects of project delivery, beginning with
analysing Vårdapoteket key processes, and business drivers.
Through a series of requirements-gathering workshops and
functionaldesignsessions,Chainformationwereabletoframe
a customer unique solution that supported Vårdapoteket in
each of its focus areas, including brand management and
staff education.
Once the functional design was in place, the team worked
quickly to complete the CCM-platform customized for
Vårdapoteket, including development, testing and integration
with new ERP system.
The primary solution components included:
A cloud based franchise software and single point of entry and for the Vårdapoteket
network.
This approach of an out-of-the-box solution was set to meet the critical organizational
needs for knowledge delivery and collorborative communications.
“We are able to pull
KPI’s directly from
our ERP system and
share that informa-
tion directly to the
cell phones of our
store managers on a
daily basis”
Tobias Ekros,
Sales and Assortment Director
Vårdapoteket

4. www.chainformation.com
Customer Case
4
The solution equips the members of the franchise network with a tool that makes daily
operations easier and more transparent, while at the same time providing head office
with a tool that helps secure brand compliance, improve communication flow and
deplete operational deficiencies:
• A user friendly-interface for speedy publication of news and updates
• Real-time access to operations manuals and other guidelines
• A media asset manager that contains brand-compliant visual elements such as
images, logos and document templates.
• A SMS Text Message Tool to inform customers when prescriptions are ready for pick-
up.
Mission accomplished
With CCM by Chainformation, and one ERP system, Vårdapoteket has overcome the
challenges posed by inheriting legacy systems with insufficient capabilities.
Says Anders Hall, Sales & Marketing Manager at Chainformation: “By implementing
CCM by Chainformation, we have successfully integrated our front-end solution with
Vårdapoteket’s ERP system and are able to synchronize and funnel information into
one single platform for store staff to use in day-to-day retail operations.”
Every Vårdapoteket location now has one single point of entry from which it can access
operations manuals, training, communicate and cross-collaborate, while also receiving
important updates and news from head office.
As articles and content is made available in real-time, CCM also enables Vårdapoteket
to see if individual staff member have missed to take part of important documents or
content. The system even keeps track if anything has been printed out.
In hindsight, the strategy has worked well for Vårdapoteket. The company has seen a
significant drop in e-mail communications and store managers are able to make swift
changes by relying on key performance indicators behind provided on a daily basis.
The implementation of CCM has also been embraced across the store network.
Comments Ann-Christin Bergholz who frequently uses CCM directly in the store:
“Our high powered Intranet is extremely useful for our day-to-day work pharmacy
environment. Important updates ping directly up on my work screen rather than having
to wade through heaps of e-mail. What’s more, I can share and discuss findings with
colleagues in stores across the country – CCM provides a collaborative environment
which helps me improve my job skills and serve customers better.”
According to Anders Hall, Sales and Marketing Manager at Chainformation, “Partnering
with Vårdapoteket, we were able funnel the wealth of information flowing through
five legacy computer systems in play across the Vårdapoteket network, while also
providing a communication platform where Vårdapoteket could communicate and
share business critical information. This is a great example of how Chainformation is
able to rapidly deploy a unifying approach and help deliver business critical knowledge
when large chains and alliances are born.”
CHAINFORMATION
We help equip your franchise network with
timely, relevant and critical know-how.
“Our high pow-
ered Intranet is ex-
tremely useful for
our day-to-day work
pharmacy environ-
ment. I can share
and discuss findings
with colleagues in
stores across the
country”
Ann-Christin Bergholz,
Pharmacist Store Manager
Vårdapoteket