Bergen Brunswig Wants Its Suppliers to Switch to Computerized Systems : MEDICAL

Bergen Brunswig, a major pharmaceutical wholesaler based in Orange, is opening a campaign to persuade its suppliers--600 manufacturers of drugs and beauty aids--to convert to a computer-automated system of ordering, invoicing and paying for merchandise.

“We hope to become a paperless company,” said Bob Bone, who recently was appointed director of what Bergen Brunswig is calling its Electronic Partnership Program. Bone said the objective of the automation program is to eliminate costly errors and delays that occur when transactions are performed by mail or by telephone conversations.

Communication between wholesalers and suppliers has been complicated in recent years by increased competition that has prompted manufacturers to give special discounts to groups of hospitals and other health providers, Bone said. But often a wholesaler such as Bergen Brunswig has paid a higher price to the same manufacturer and must sell the inventory at a loss. Bergen Brunswig then must bill the manufacturer for the difference.

Bone said the National Wholesale Druggists Assn. has estimated that automation of all transactions between drug wholesalers and manufacturers could save the industry $20 million a year. He said Bergen Brunswig recently developed the computer software necessary to perform its portion of the communications. But he complained that most manufacturers have not made an effort to develop reciprocal software.

In an attempt to give the manufacturers “a push,” Bone said, Bergen Brunswig plans to provide information about its automation program at the National Wholesale Druggists Assn. conference scheduled next month in Reno.