Zegin Group Saves 30 Days Annually on Budgeting With Power ON

• Zegin Group saved 30 days per year on budgeting processes

• The business saved 70%-80% of the time it used to spend preparing data

• Zegin saw a 70% reduction of planning and coordinating between the controlling department and other areas of the business

Zegin Group is a leading pharmaceutical company operating in Macedonia. The business has been in operation for 37 years and operates with a pharmacy retail chain of over 200 stores. With nearly 15,000 active products in medicines, food supplements, baby food, orthopedic devices, and cosmetics, Zegin is an exclusive importer of different brands throughout Europe and Asia.

When Jana Korubin joined Zegin Group as Controlling Manager in 2023, her goal was to strengthen controllership while connecting data throughout the organization. At that time, the billing department was heavily burdened both technologically and operationally. At the time, Zegin managed its product lines in Excel files. When they needed updating, different users would update the files, then re-upload to the controlling sector. “This caused formal layovers that were high-risk,” Korubin said. “One data input you cannot see the influence on the whole outlet. The whole process was not dynamic and it was hard to keep up. All the energy in our department was focused on Excel files instead of using our creativity to plan and add value.”

Zegin’s data challenges are common not only in the pharmaceutical industry, but throughout all retail chains. Controllership and planning are complex processes that deserve a single source of truth where multiple employees, locations, and branches can all work with uniform, up-to-date, and accurate information. With its existing processes, Korubin saw an opportunity for improvement. “We have marketing campaigns and strong regulations. That makes it essential to have structure and a good planning process,” she said. And plan they did. The first step Korubin and her staff took was to work with Zegin’s business partner, Data Sense, to build a data warehouse and BI platform. Their collaboration continued as Data Sense helped Zegin map the process of adopting a planning solution from end-to-end, helping them become both more efficient and more effective. The solution they decided to adopt was Power ON from insightsoftware. “Data Sense recommended that we should have one software, one system, where we can integrate our multiple entities to be more flexible and to make a difference from the other solutions on the market,” Korubin said. “We were already using PowerBI and had experience with that. Data Sense recommended Power ON to make it one platform.”

By making a strong plan alongside Data Sense, Zegin was able to get up and running with Power ON quickly. “The staff and controlling department was very organized by the time we organized Power ON,” Korubin said. “It was user-friendly even for people who aren’t in finance. We didn’t have any difficulty adapting to the new software.” To make sure Zegin Group’s employees and end users were on the same page, Data Sense held training sessions with the new software. “We went live on the first of November,” explained Mario Korbar, Founder of Data Sense. “After a week passed by, there wasn’t a single request for assistance. For three weeks, Zegin made a retail plan, wholesale plan, and more with no requests for help. It’s very rare that we see this kind of implementation.”

One of Zegin’s biggest struggles had been juggling data between the controlling department and other areas of the business. Power ON automatically consolidated Zegin’s historical data from all business units into a single source of truth. This brought together the retail and wholesale sides of the business all while helping Zegin manage supply chain and P & L. All in all, the organization has saved 70% of the time it used to spend planning and coordinating data between different departments. “It’s a mindset shift,” said Korubin. “Now, we have one single source of truth, which helps us to have more constructive discussions.”

Before Power ON, Zegin maintained separate systems for budgeting and business intelligence (BI) with no overlap. Data analysis, budgeting, and planning were separate tasks that took about a month of every year just to consolidate. “If you don’t have an integrated platform, it can easily take 30-40 days yearly to integrate data,” Korubin said. Power ON created a single, integrated platform to fulfill a variety of needs, from BI to budgeting, planning, and controllership without having to spend days on data integration. “When you’re talking about extended planning and analysis (xP&A), you’re talking about all aspects of BI, budgeting, and planning in one integrated system,” Korubin continued. “Power ON gives us that.” Power ON has also improved visibility into Zegin’s data and traceability of every input. “With Power ON, we know what changed, who made changes, and we can close cycles in a way we didn’t have before.” Ultimately, an integrated system helps bridge gaps between departments, lowers the strain on IT departments, and gives teams greater autonomy over their budgeting, planning, and other crucial tasks. With the help of Power ON, Zegin Group now has shorter, more efficient budgeting and close cycles, has more time time for vital analysis, and has grown more confident in their organizational data. With Power ON, Zegin sees a bright future of growth and expansion so that it can continue to fulfill its mission of sharing health, information, care, and hope for a better tomorrow.