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.
  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