PHOENIX group

Meet our customer hero

Headquartered in Germany, the PHOENIX group is a European leader in pharmaceutical wholesale, pharmacy retail, and industry-based services. It has more than 48,000 employees providing healthcare professionals with medicines, health products, and logistics spanning 29 countries. PHOENIX also operates over 3,300 own pharmacies, serving around 189 million patients per year.

Good process governance as a differentiator

In today’s complex healthcare industry, companies must increasingly work within strict protocols and regulatory requirements. And PHOENIX too, with its dealings across multiple countries, must comply with a range of European directives and national laws.

To mitigate risk, the group has reinforced its process management capabilities: In 2018, it adopted ARIS, Software AG’s process intelligence suite to systematize and harmonize across the organization.

ARIS is used in many ways, delivering gains in terms of efficiency, compliance, and risk management. It is used, as an example, in recording processing activities in line with the EU’s GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation). “In some areas, we use ARIS to map processing activities and then cross-check that we’ve included all activities that involve personal data,” explains Veronika Ellermann.

ARIS has become an important tool for documenting different types of processes within the Group. “We’ve mapped more than 2.000 processes so far,” says Veronika Ellermann, BPM Method and Tools Specialist at PHOENIX, “and we now have over 1,000 ARIS users across some 10 countries. And usage is constantly increasing.”

Customized access to ARIS via TEAMS boosts collaboration

The idea to proliferate the use of ARIS came when Software AG released a new version of the suite enabling it to be directly integrated into Microsoft TEAMS. “It was perfect,” says Veronika Ellermann, “because TEAMS is the go-to tool for all respective PHOENIX employees, and having ARIS in TEAMS makes it top-of-mind—every day.”

TEAMS was already established as the Group’s main enabler of cross-functional communication. Composed of different channels, TEAMS enables employees to chat about wide-ranging subjects and projects. If ARIS could be instantly accessible from TEAMS, it would rapidly attract more users.

The Strategic Procurement department quickly lent their support to the idea. The department had already mapped 120 processes and needed to find an easy way to bring employees up to speed.

With support from Software AG, the ARIS-TEAMS integration was soon implemented. Following a short test phase, the service was opened to end users. Today, users no longer need to leave the TEAMS environment and open a web-based browser to access ARIS. They can access it instantly from TEAMS, display process models in-app, and then discuss with colleagues using the chat functionality.

Fostering a culture of process optimization

Today, each department has its own TEAMS channel and can customize the new “ARIS for PHOENIX” app for its users. The app can be added as a tab in a channel. By browsing the ARIS repository directly in TEAMS, administrators of the TEAMS channel can offer users rapid access to the models most relevant to their departments, selecting from an overview, chart, steps, or matrix view.

“The app has made it much easier to access our process documentation,” says Pascal Eckert, Process Manager in the Strategic Procurement team. “The link in TEAMS removes the hurdle of having to search the desired view from the process landscape in ARIS, as TEAMS is already open most of the time.” For recent recruits, the app is proving a valuable educational tool for mastering the department’s processes, delivering a graphic representation of how they should be working – from within the familiar TEAMS environment.

“Thanks to the app, a lot more people are appreciating the transparency that ARIS offers us,” explains Pascal Eckert. “It’s made our team aware of the vast potential of ARIS to identify risks and optimize processes. This will be key to our building a culture of operational excellence that everyone shapes.”