A Company on a Mission

SPR Therapeutics is a medical device company specializing in neurostimulation technology, but they’re much more than that. They’re a group of ethically driven data scientists who see their SPRINT® Peripheral Nerve Stimulation system as a pain management solution that addresses the unmet need for a non- opioid treatment method in the midst of the opioid crisis.

In order to pursue their mission, the company developed a strategic and aggressive growth strategy. Early on, however, they discovered that their internal systems, including CRM, inventory management and quality management, were holding them back. They were disconnected, inefficient, and made poor use of critical data. They needed a new technology foundation that would support their growth plan, not undermine it.

They chose Rootstock Cloud ERP and ComplianceQuest EQMS on the Salesforce Cloud Platform as that technology foundation.

About SPR Therapeutics

SPR Therapeutics, founded in 2010 and headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, is dedicated to designing, manufacturing and commercializing non-opioid, minimally invasive pain treatment options. The company’s SPRINT technology is the only percutaneous Peripheral Nerve Stimulation (PNS) System approved by the FDA to treat both chronic and acute pain.

SPR Therapeutics expects its SPRINT system to be the standard of care for pain management. The treatment is non-opioid, reversible, safe, effective and more affordable than the consequences of addictive opioid medications and invasive surgeries.

The Challenge: Old, Disconnected Systems Were Hampering Growth

Eager to pursue their mission, the company pursued its aggressive growth plan but realized that their current technology mix was going to be an obstacle. The company started out using an assortment of separate unintegrated applications, which led to disconnected silos of information and frustrating inefficiencies.

One of the key components of the company’s quality management system was a simple document control application. For a medical device company, quality management is a critical system, but SPR’s old system was just a shared network folder with the software controlling document revisions and history.

According to Ben Austin, Director of Finance at SPR, it was fraught with a lot of issues.

Another significant problem for the young company was  inefficient complaint processing. Handling complaints is an essential part of customer feedback, quality and compliance for any medical device company.

Even though sales volume was growing, the company was falling behind on processing and resolving complaints. Complaints were tracked manually, which made it challenging to keep up with every detail. Each complaint submitted was touched by many hands, including quality, compliance, engineering, sales, and R&D, which increased complexity and the need for a more scalable solution.

The company also used an inventory management application that tracked inventory quantities and lots, and QuickBooks for accounting, including tracking costs and sales. These two systems were supposed to be linked but it was not a seamless connection.

For CRM, the company used a basic Zoho system, but this setup also fell victim to information silos. For example, they reconciled revenue between Zoho and QuickBooks and that could take days. At any given time, they didn’t know what their revenue was because they were looking four days back.

The Solution: Rootstock and ComplianceQuest on Salesforce

Determined to move away from disconnected silos of information and inefficient interactions with suppliers, production, quality management and customers, the data-savvy company wanted a single integrated solution that would support growth and maximize efficiency.

SPR’s other important objective was to connect their staff, some of which are scattered across the U.S. On premise ERP was never an option. With its scalability, flexibility and real-time anytime/anywhere access, the cloud was the right platform.

ROOTSTOCK CLOUD ERP

After an underwhelming initial search, they found Rootstock Software and liked the fact that Rootstock Cloud ERP is natively built and runs on the Salesforce Cloud Platform.

Of particular interest to SPR Therapeutics was Rootstock Cloud ERP’s ability to track and trace complete product history, provide lot control and improve efficiencies through automation, especially with inventory and engineering management.

They also felt a cultural affinity with Rootstock. “I just feel that you guys understand us, you have the same values and culture,” said CEO Bennett.

COMPLIANCEQUEST EQMS

The next issue was to find a new quality management system. SPR chose ComplianceQuest, also native to the Salesforce platform.

ComplianceQuest EQMS is a 100% cloud- based, enterprise-grade solution that streamlines quality, compliance, content and collaboration management initiatives and strategies across diverse, globally based supply chain networks. It also integrates seamlessly with Rootstock Cloud ERP.

SPR Therapeutics set out to standardize its quality management system to ensure patient safety and compliance with FDA regulations.

“We wanted to future-proof our quality and business systems to the fullest extent and prepare for exponential growth,” said Kathryn Stager, Director of Regulatory Affairs and Quality Systems.

SALESFORCE CRM

SPR had been making do with their old CRM system, but as scientists who understand the value of data and the benefits of a single technology platform, they saw the possibilities of Salesforce CRM and the seamless integration with Rootstock on the Salesforce Cloud Platform.

From Implementation to Go Live

Knowing that the implementation of a completely new enterprise-wide technology would be challenging for any size company, SPR was committed to having the right team in place. In fact, SPR had multiple project teams participating, and the high level of collaboration between the teams helped ensure a successful implementation.

In order to successfully implement their new system, SPR knew that collaboration and communication would be keys to success. Throughout the process, SPR’s internal project team worked with Rootstock, ComplianceQuest and Cloudloop, a Salesforce implementation consulting firm and frequent SPR partner.

According to Kermally, Rootstock and ComplianceQuest was really a single solution for everyone in their company.

SPR Therapeutics went live with its new automated system in August 2019, less than seven months after the implementation began.

Advantages of the New Technology Foundation

Thanks to Rootstock Cloud ERP, SPR Therapeutics has automated many of its formerly manual and disconnected processes, including purchasing, inventory management, engineering management, production and finance. Gone are the simple document revision control software and disconnected inventory, ERP and accounting systems.

Beyond those newly achieved efficiencies, the new single integrated solution helped the company overcome critical challenges in revenue recognition and complaint processing.

SALES IS NOW DRIVING REVENUE

A big advantage of the new system is the seamless integration between Rootstock and Salesforce CRM. Rootstock Cloud ERP can automatically convert a Salesforce opportunity to a sales order. Austin called it a “key integration.”

“We can take a CRM transaction and a forecast, and run it all the way through to sales order, revenue booked, inventory, cost of sales, all in Rootstock,” said Austin. This integration allows Sales to drive revenue.

DASHBOARDS FOR REAL-TIME INSIGHTS

For each department, Rootstock Cloud ERP and ComplianceQuest EQMS offer real-time dashboards, analytics, and in-depth reporting to facilitate key business decisions. The quality team uses customized dashboards for spotting potential problems, conducting risk assessments, and as a training and tracking tool.

The additional insights provide visibility during the complaints process across multiple departments with data more quickly and easily accessible. Reports and information can now be pulled in a fraction of the time it took in the past, whether internally or by an external auditor.

“The dashboards are phenomenal,” adds Stager. “I can look at my entire department and see if we are getting things done promptly or if something is delayed and where it is in the process.”

LOT CONTROL AND TRACEABILITY

Identifying the root cause of a complaint is costly and unmanageable if you cannot track products throughout their lifecycle, including parts or components you might have sourced or subcontracted in your supply chain. Rootstock Cloud ERP provides end-to-end lot control and serial number tracking for complete traceability along with comprehensive device history.

SPR’s devices are provided as sterile single- use kits; they have a relatively short life but lot tracking is still critical. According to Austin, they are now able to process complaints and efficiently associate them with specific lots across the system.

COMPLAINT PROCESSING WITH COMPLIANCEQUEST EQMS

Product quality and patient satisfaction are the top priority at SPR Therapeutics.

Feedback from physicians and patients is essential, and complaints are used as a gauge for understanding product performance, improvements required, and priority level.

As mentioned earlier, improving complaint processing had been one of SPR’s goals with the new system.

ComplianceQuest EQMS, along with Salesforce CRM and Rootstock Cloud ERP, has solved that problem. ComplianceQuest gets customer data from CRM, but also integrates with Rootstock for inventory, lot number tracking, transaction dates, and many other product details.

The new technology foundation not only has solved the problem of inefficient complaint processing, but the number of open complaints has actually gone down. The following graph shows this decline in open complaints.

Prior to going live in August 2019, the number of open complaints was rising rapidly.

“Between product improvements our engineering team made and released into the field and the improved complaint handling efficiency, the number of open complaints has significantly decreased despite our continued rise in sales.” Austin explains.