Strategic modernization of warehouse management

Executive summary: Strategic modernization of an ERP system

01 Client

A global company operating in the healthcare industry.

02 The pressing challenge

The Client's original system was built on a 20-year-old Oracle Forms technology. This legacy framework caused system instability and struggled to meet the strict GxP (Good Practice) standards and new security requirements that arose in recent months.

03 Pretius's solution

Pretius used Oracle APEX to develop a modern web application for warehouse inventory management and pharmaceutical product processing. The project was executed using Waterfall and Kanban methodologies and included a complete historical data migration.

Quantifiable impact & key achievements:

Full compliance and security:
The new system achieved full compliance with strict GxP standards and security protocols.
Successful data migration:
The database was upgraded from Oracle 8i to 19c, and data was safely imported from a Spanish schema to an English schema while ensuring absolute data integrity. Forms were moved one by one while retaining most of the underlying logic.

Reduced Total Cost of Ownership (TCO):
The Client eliminated the high maintenance and operational costs associated with sustaining a 20-year-old legacy system.
CI/CD:
The implementation of a fully automated CI/CD pipeline made the deployment of new features and updates in the future easier and less costly.

Client background

The company operates in the highly regulated healthcare sector.

The primary users of the system upgraded by Pretius are operational staff responsible for the comprehensive handling and fulfillment of pharmaceutical orders, as well as management staff who monitor inventory and make strategic purchasing decisions. Due to the nature of the healthcare industry and internal operational processes, the client required a massive amount of specific documentation to meet GxP requirements. Furthermore, the organization has highly complex and time-consuming processes for system verification, acceptance, and deployment.

pretius case study health insurance oracle apex

The legacy debt: Facing the challenges posed by an outdated system based on Oracle Forms

The warehouse's operations relied heavily on a 20-year-old application built on Oracle Forms, a legacy technology that eventually led to significant system instability. Over time, the aging architecture made it exceptionally difficult to ensure full compliance with modern GxP standards and the rigorous security requirements that the Client had to enforce. The data was also trapped in an outdated Oracle 8i database, which originally utilized a non-English schema, complicating maintenance. As highlighted by Pretius's domain expertise, staying on Oracle Forms forces companies to deal with a high-maintenance legacy system instead of moving toward a high-performance, future-proof platform.

In-depth analysis
The modernization project began with a structured analysis and UX/UI design phase to ensure the new application would effectively replace the old workflows. Pretius meticulously mapped out the application's development in phased milestones. This approach tracked the recreation of Oracle Forms into APEX at specific intervals: 20%, 40%, 55%, 70%, 90%, and ultimately 95% completion. This allowed for a highly controlled and systematic replacement of the extensive system.

The Solution: An in-depth, but well-planned modernization

To address the legacy challenges, Pretius developed a modern web-based solution that replaced the old application while fulfilling all original business needs.

It was deployed on an on-premise Exadata infrastructure and included key modules for:

Managing clients, products, and currencies
Registering incoming pharmaceuticals
Tracking repackaging workflows
Order fulfillment and inventory management
Reporting (over 20 different interactive reports)

Moreover, during later phases of the project, Pretius also introduced various quality-of-life improvements to make the system easier to use.

Why Oracle APEX?

The decision to migrate to Oracle APEX was driven by several clear technical and business advantages:

Technological Continuity

APEX is the natural successor to Oracle Forms, providing a smooth transition path and featuring many related functionalities out of the box.

Rapid low-code development

As a Low-Code platform, APEX drastically reduced software development time. APEX allows developers to build and deploy rich applications with minimal hand-coding, making development 10 to 20 times faster.

Cost efficiency

APEX is a fully-supported, no-cost feature of the Oracle Database, drastically reducing the total cost of ownership by eliminating Oracle Forms licensing fees.

Leveraging existing assets

The new system seamlessly utilized PL/SQL, which remained the company standard for handling Oracle databases.

Migration strategy: Complex data conversion and rigorous CI/CD

The migration process was divided into critical infrastructure upgrades and strict deployment pipelines:

01 Database change

Pretius imported the data from the 19c database into the final target database, transforming it into an English schema while fully guaranteeing pharmaceutical data integrity.

02 Complex form-by-form migration

Pretius methodically migrated the Client’s system while retaining the underlying logic 1:1 whenever possible. The original solution was huge and very complex, which made this task demanding to say the least. Extensive experience with Forms-APEX migrations and enterprises paid dividends here.

03 Automated CI/CD pipeline

To comply with the client's strict verification processes, Pretius implemented a highly automated CI/CD pipeline using Jenkins and Bitbucket. Deployments moved through a structured flow (DEV -> TEST -> PREPROD -> PROD), with each stage requiring manual approval from the Application Owner.

04 Stability, security, and Integrations

The project hinged on security and compliance standards. To meet these rigorous demands, Pretius implemented critical integrations such as Microsoft Entra and CheckmarX.

Biggest challenges:

Non-English database

In addition to all the other required tasks and actions, the database had to be translated into English because reading code in the original language was challenging, especially since it was often very complex. Our developers did this and migrated all the data without any serious errors or problems.

Scale of the system

The system was over two decades old and full of very unique, often complex forms and logic – a far cry from the typical level you encounter in such projects. Moreover, the Client’s requirement was to move everything practically 1:1, which is usually difficult in Forms-APEX migrations. We managed to do this, and despite the scale and complexity, we finished everything in just 9 months.

Procedures and security challenges

The Client’s security regulations are very strict and hard to work under. The project required, among other things, creating a very extensive documentation and adhering to strict verifications before going live. Our team’s experience in corporate environments was invaluable here.

Measured outcomes and business impact

The project ended in success and created real, measurable value in several dimensions, including financial, operational, and strict industry compliance.

Financial savings

Reduced Total Cost of Ownership (TCO):
By migrating to Oracle APEX, a fully-supported, no-cost feature of the Oracle Database, the Client eliminated the high maintenance and operational costs associated with sustaining a 20-year-old legacy system.
Cost-efficient deployments:
The implementation of a fully automated CI/CD pipeline (utilizing Bitbucket, Jenkins, and SQLcl Project) drastically reduced the time, effort, and costs required to deploy new features and updates in the future.

Operational success and UX

Seamless business continuity:
The complex upgrade of the database from Oracle 8i to 19c, coupled with the translation of the schema to English, and then the migration of actual forms, was executed flawlessly. This ensured 100% data integrity for highly sensitive pharmaceutical records without disrupting critical warehouse operations. Moreover, most of the underlying logic was retained, per the Client’s requirements.

Stability and security

Strict GxP and compliance rules:
The modernized system fully met the stringent GxP quality standards and corporate security protocols. The integration of Microsoft Entra provided secure Single Sign-On (SSO), while tools like CheckmarX and SonarQube ensured automated vulnerability and code quality scanning.
Future-proof architecture:
By moving away from an obsolete and unstable architecture to a modern web-based environment hosted on an Exadata on-premise infrastructure, the platform eliminated technological debt and is now fully prepared for long-term, agile development.

Client testimonial

Name and surname

position

Pretius helped us modernize a legacy system that blocked further growth of the company. Their approach to migration was smart and methodical, which allowed us to complete the project in just over 9 months. Overall, we’re very happy with the cooperation with them.

Conclusion

By migrating their 20-year-old system from Oracle Forms to the modern, web-based Oracle APEX platform, the Client successfully overcame critical system instability and eliminated substantial technological debt. This strategic modernization ensured full compliance with the stringent GxP standards and the rigorous security protocols, establishing a future-proof architecture. The project delivered a comprehensive update to warehouse operations, all while maintaining seamless business continuity.

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Michał Lipiński

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mlipinski@pretius.com

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Strategic modernization of warehouse management – Oracle Forms to APEX migration in the healthcare insurance industry

Company

Country

Industry

System

Executive summary: Strategic modernization of an ERP system

01

Client

02

The pressing challenge

03

Pretius's solution