The panel session title at this year’s INTERPHEX event was “Contract Manufacturing Organizations (CMOs) lessons learned – How do you improve efficiency without compromising quality and compliance?” After 45 minutes of discussion amongst panelists and the audience we learned that, “technology is the enabler that provides the efficiencies CMO leaders are looking for.” As a follow up question, moderator Gil Roth asked, “Are CMOs adopting new technologies as they should be, and are they ahead or behind the brand owners?” Both Dan Matlis of Axendia and I were in strong agreement.
While many CMOs are leveraging QAD – and other – digital solutions for manufacturing, quality, supply chain and transportation management – there is definitely room for improvement. For example, many CMOs today are on older solutions, outdated versions, leveraging old hardware, and even paper-based processes or spreadsheets. Do these processes work? Sure. But are they efficient? Are they scalable? And sustainable? Absolutely not. And, while some of these processes may be good at maintaining the status quo today, these manual, error-prone processes are incredibly expensive to maintain and, most importantly, are putting companies at risk – risk of non-compliance, risk of supplier issues, and risk of a potential security or data breach. Finally, laggard companies that are maintaining the status quo with older, outdated processes aren’t taking advantage of the opportunities for improvement, efficiencies, and security that cloud-based, digital solutions offer CMOs today, and are frankly going to be left behind.
Connected Workforce
With workforce shortages and job openings remaining unfilled across the life sciences industry, it’s never been a more important time to focus on employee morale, improved training programs, and workforce retention initiatives to keep workers engaged and delivering important therapeutics and medical technologies to patients around the world. Connected workforce solutions are providing front-line workers with the tools that not only help improve the quality of products, but also increase operator productivity, reduce employee turnover and ultimately keep CMOs delivering products as promised. Leading nutraceutical manufacturer Vytalogy Wellness experienced a 21% decrease in employee turnover after 18 months implementing the connected workforce solution. In 2022 after a period of rapid growth, plant managers lost visibility of all of the factors that were impacting productivity, throughput and downtime. With QAD Redzone, operators had real-time visibility of the data and improved OEE from 44% to 67%.
Learn how Vytalogy Wellness found success with QAD Redzone.
Adaptive Digital Manufacturing
In addition to connected workforce solutions, leading CMOs are leveraging adaptive digital manufacturing solutions to drive efficiencies and ensure on-time delivery of high quality, important life saving and life sustaining products. Building accurate production schedules within operations with the right resources, with the right materials, and in the right places is a challenge. Adaptive digital manufacturing solutions that connect planning activities with operations and allow you to easily modify resources and pivot strategies when required allows CMOs to respond quickly to changing demands and capitalize on the opportunity at hand profitably, without compromising quality and compliance.
Learn how AjiBio Life Sciences, formerly Althea, is leveraging QAD solutions to support FDA’s Drug Supply Chain Security Act compliance and growth objectives. Related Article “Are you Ready?”
Supply Chain Planning & Transportation Governance
With raw material shortages still pervasive around the globe, it’s clear disruption is here to stay. Reshoring operations and building new manufacturing facilities to ensure the production of important pharmaceutical components and raw materials are made “at home” is critical, but how long will that take? And is that a sustainable solution? Many government leaders are starting to realize that reshoring manufacturing plants is expensive and takes time so it’s only a piece of the puzzle. A more sustainable approach to navigating current supply chain disruption includes building out broader risk mitigation strategies now. This includes leveraging supply chain planning solutions and increasing collaboration with suppliers. This helps establish better governance processes within the supply chain and transportation and logistics teams and ensures awareness and visibility of issues before they occur.
Learn more about optimizing operations within your supply chain by listening to this episode of LinkedIn Live.
