ASTERA

SECURE EXCHANGES WITH FRENCH LABORATORIES AND PHARMACIES

BY THE WAY

Astera is an intermediary between pharmaceutical laboratories and pharmacies established throughout France since 1919. Recognized as a pharmaceutical distributor, it meets missions set by the Ministry of Health, ensuring at all times a sufficient depth of stock to meet various needs. This stock should make it possible to react quickly in the event of a shortage of medicines or a pandemic. Astera supplies some 7,000 pharmacies daily.

Between pharmacists and laboratories, we must ensure dynamic stock management from several depots spread over France. Pharmacists place orders with us via a dedicated information system. It is up to us to prepare the orders and deliver them as soon as possible, comments Pascal Mayet, IT Operations Manager at Astera. On the other hand, we must ensure supply, in direct connection with the various pharmaceutical laboratories. »

GoAnywhere, the secure file transfer solution marketed in Europe by BlueFinch-ESBD, has been implemented at Astera. GoAnywhere supports the many exchanges between Astera, laboratories and pharmacies.

Secure exchanges with laboratories

It is in the context of its exchanges with laboratories that Astera has chosen to use the GoAnywhere solution, proposed by BlueFinch-ESBD.

“Every day, we have to exchange many order files and invoices with the laboratories. Until recently, these exchanges with our various partners went through four different platforms, more or less recent, more necessarily up-to-date, with varying levels of security, continues Pascal Mayet. If the data exchanged is not necessarily sensitive, the exchanges are critical. We need to be sure that the labs are receiving our requests and are able to process them. In order to guarantee the efficiency of our services, we have therefore sought an effective solution, based on a secure architecture to support all our exchanges. »

Pascal Mayet IT Operations Manager at ASTERA

"With BlueFinch-ESBD, we are assured of a quality and local after-sales service."

One solution and multiple communication protocols

Astera, after going around the market, opted for GoAnywhere.

“The solution has the advantage of working with multiple communication protocols. Easy to administer, it allows us to orchestrate information flows much more easily. It offers us the possibility to automate certain processes for greater fluidity and guarantees the efficiency of our exchanges,” says Pascal Mayet. From now on, all exchanges with laboratories go through the GoAnywhere platform. The latter could be implemented in a few days, at the beginning of 2017.

Facilitate the dematerialization of documents

“The transition was faster than we thought,” continues the head of operations. Quickly, we were able to use the platform for other exchanges. It has facilitated certain communications with groups of pharmacists, for whom we provide an inventory management service independent of our mission as dispatcher. Accounting exchanges between our subsidiaries, with our partners, also go through this channel. »

Transfer orders, legal documents and various statistical reports are transmitted in this way. “On a daily basis, GoAnywhere supports a hundred document exchanges, with about thirty different partners. The solution supports our efforts in the field of document dematerialization, offering us an efficient and secure exchange channel. Finally, with BlueFinch-ESBD, we are assured of having a quality and local after-sales service. »