Report on Supply Chain

Management of
Getz Pharma
 Two
Decad es
of
Excellance
Preface:
This report has been written in April 2019 in a supply chain management course project at
the Iqra University EDC, Karachi. Under the guidance of Sir Atif Ahmed We thank Getz
Pharma for giving us a chance to visit their facility for this project and providing us with a
robust learning experience of standard supply chain procedures and industry practices and
in assisting us with the report by providing all relevant information and material for
knowledge and better understanding.
Special Thanks to Mr. Zubair Ahmed Siddiqui (Senior Manager Indirect Procurement and
Projects- Getz Pharma) for the interview and detailed discussion regarding supply chain
management operations performed in Getz pharma and the SOP’s followed.
Lastly, names of the group members are :
Hafsa Abid Hussain, Maha Jannat, Fatima Ali, Daniyal Zia, Bilal Younus.
Introduction to the Company:
Getz Pharma is a member of the Getz Group of Companies, which has a legacy of over 160
years. The Getz Group was founded in 1852 by a Prussian immigrant Joseph Getz and his
three brothers in Lower Lake, California, and began as a local general store. By the 1870s,
the Getz Brothers were marketing medicines, food products, and consumer goods to
customers in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Calcutta and Madras. Today, the Getz Group is home
to more than 12,000 employees worldwide and distributes agricultural, biomedical,
pharmaceutical and technical products and consumer goods in over 50 countries across
the world.

Getz Pharma’s journey began in 1995 when they acquired Saitex, a small pharmaceutical
company which was heavily in debt, produced only four products
and had no employee benefits. In two decades, Getz Pharma has transformed from a small
production facility to a world class branded generic pharmaceutical company with a global
outlook. In 1995, the company ranked 198th out of 200 companies in Pakistan, and today
it is rated as the third largest pharmaceutical company in Pakistan, operating in over 23
countries and producing over 500 products. They were determined to start strong with a
vision, mission and guiding principles, which would lead us towards our success. They
started working on a strong brand portfolio and launched Ribazole in 1996, which
established itself as a market leader. This was followed by Risek, which to date, is the top
brand for anti-ulcer and later followed by Uniferon another market leader. In 1998, they
began international operations with entry into Vietnam. By 2001, they were exporting
pharmaceuticals products to six countries. In 2003, set up an office in SriLanka, followed by
the Philippines in 2006. Philippines is now their largest international market with 42
products. Their growth was indeed phenomenal, as they were growing at five times the
industry rate within four years after inception. The industry growth rate was 14 percent
while we were growing at 55 percent. Their employee base grew from 45 in 1995 to over
5700 well trained and qualified personnel today.
Supply Chain Structure:
Supply Chain Structure :

Marketing department and Sales team with collaborative working on demand evaluation
creates reports and then share it with the production team and management.
The production team then initiates the production planning, starting off with availability of
resources, supplier selection etc. After Shortlisting credible suppliers, quotations are
requested to be provided by the suppliers.
Then price is negotiated and the contract is provided to the supplier providing less
cost/price benefit. For foreign purchases LC’s are opened in bank for transaction with
foreign vendors. Logistics of Getz is done by their distributor Muller and Phipps. The
Criteria for Distributor selection is that the distributor must have access to all parts of the
country for local distribution. So that mass market is captured.
Warehousing advantage that Getz pharma has kept with it is, the facility of Getz pharma in
Korangi includes Production unit, Higher Management Offices, Warehouse so that all their
departments come inside one facility. This helps in better coordination among
departments, flow of information is quick and easy, disputes are resolved easily, increases
overall efficiency of all the processes of the organization.
Getz pharma is also working to reduce its imports and manufacture more and more
required items within their own facility. This will not only help in cost cutting but will also
infer societal benefits such as creation of new jobs, with new job opportunities people will
benefit and the society will benefit as a whole.
In order to achieve successful supply chain management, packaging systems have to be
connected with aspects of marketing, logistics, productions, and the environment.
For environmental benefit Getz pharma encourages recycling practices and working while
creating less polluted environment. Currently planning to setup recycling machines of
paper, carton, plastic bottles etc which will reduce cost. They also build up competition
among suppliers which ultimately results in benefitting the company as the suppliers
reduce their prices. Indirect purchasing for low value items is done in bulk quantity, those
items which
are used on daily basis are purchased in bulk quantity or covered through a blanket PO.
Warehouse of Getz Pharma : (Managed by Muller and Phipps)

Drug Testing Department

Departments Under Supply Chain:

 Planning
  Procurement
 Distribution
 Warehouse
No. of Employees in Supply Chain:

Total are 45 employees in Karachi Facility.

 Planning (7 employees)
 Procurement (21 employees)
 Distribution (12 employees)
 Warehouse (5 employees)

risek: Success story

of branding,
initiatives,
passion and

transformation .
The number
Antiulcerant
of Pakistan
1Risek was launched in 1996 and is currently the
largest selling antiulcerant and the second
largest brand in Pakistan, as well as leading
position in our global markets such as
Philippines and Vietnam.
campaigns like ‘Greenology’, ‘Clean &
Green’, ‘Recycle-Reduce-Reuse’,
‘Protecting Natural Resources’ and ‘Eco-
Friendly’ were implemented to rousing
appreciation.

Risek’s ‘Go-Green’ social campaign was the
basis for numerous public awareness
campaigns and social events, including live
drawing contests and environment awareness
posters, to increase brand noise level. In the
last few years, newer strategic branding
initiatives took the campaign into a new era of
success where sub-
During the process of building the brand,
teams have worked hard to introduce
innovative sales processes, intelligent
pricing strategies and packaging upgrades.
Risek’s rapid growth rate (CAGR of
24.74%) contributes to Getz Pharma’s role
as an industry leader and we hope to
achieve similar landmarks in all other
product categories. 

Some Questions…….
Q. How is inventory management done at Getz Pharma?
Ans. Inventory is managed by JIT (Just in Time) method and it is focused that
excess inventory does not get piled up in the store .
Q. Do you focus on reducing the Bull-Whip effect?
Ans. Yes, this is our main concern and we see our information gathering
sources very critical. We have made strict SOP’s that the department heads will
acknowledge any requested demand and will own the negative consequences if any.
Q. Any strategies used for cost cutting ?
Ans. Change of Origin, First importing from china was done by 25% now it has been
reduced to 20%, most of the products are localized and made in Lahore.
Creating competition is another technique to reduce the cost. Packaging is another
aspect we are working on to reduce the cost of production.
Currently planning to setup recycling machines of paper, carton, plastic bottles
which will reduce cost.
 Q. How do you manage shorter lead times in exporting, considering the current factors
of load shedding and other problems.
Ans. Our primary focus is to deliver the product in the estimated lead times.
To tackle electricity problem we have installed solar panels which are producing
200 KW and Standby Generators are also installed in the production area so that the
outages do not effect the actual production, and efficiency percentage is higher.
Q. Is Export Successful?
Ans. Export is going highly successful, we are exporting inn 22 countries now and within
next three months it would go upto 25 countries.

Change is not a