BACKGROUND
Having scaled up significantly over the past five years, the global pharmaceutical company, whose site is on the East Coast of the US, wanted to maximize capacity and get the most from every batch; ensure batch consistency and reduce downtime events.
Previously, it used a combination of Excel and Word documents. Different groups managed their own schedules – the result being meetings were not always aligned and data was open to interpretation.
To realize its growth ambitions, the company adopted Access Orchestrate – an APS (advanced planning and scheduling) system developed to increase productivity and efficiency on the shop floor using real-time production insights.
The reason so many biopharmaceuticals companies choose this system is because it is capable of delivering web-based dashboards and a dynamic production schedule built on the earliest possible completion time, taking into account complex dependencies and equipment constraints. In short, it allows them to run their plant optimally, confident that they can maximize current and future batch yield, while maintaining the validated process.
REQUIREMENTS OF THE JOB
Before Orchestrate, the production team knew the way they were operating was time-consuming. But this wasn’t the main driver for choosing the software – the ultimate goal was to achieve visibility and control of every process, ensure consistency and generate data that would give the company the confidence to scale up.
Biopharma manufacturing is challenging by nature – and, as one experienced planner at the company says, this is down to the way ‘processes are designed and the inherent variability of living cells.’
Since it is time-constrained, they cannot simply ‘press pause’ in the middle of production because a machine has broken down, for instance.
Therefore, data-driven systems like Orchestrate are critical in helping them manage this complex production process and make innovative treatments available to more people.
SOLUTION
Access Orchestrate was originally deployed with the company’s flagship site in North-East America. Used daily by over 500 people, the solution has been further rolled out to its Ireland site and the company expects to expand further across new sites and business areas.
Access Orchestrate has been designed for day-to-day scheduling, capacity planning and what-if? analysis and has been instrumental for delivering new drugs to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
INITIAL FINDINGS
Having implemented Orchestrate with the full support of senior management, the production team now has the visibility it needs – and the assurance that nothing is missing or has gone wrong. There is a single version of the truth and they have reduced the number of times they’ve needed to reschedule.
They have also been able to move away from ‘tribal knowledge’ so anyone can now step in and see what someone with more experience would see.
The pharmaceuticals industry is highly-regulated, which means manufacturers need full control over their processes. This, in turn, can give regulators in any country the confidence that they are following GMP (good manufacturing practices).
The data generated support better resource planning and helps the team make a case if more labor or equipment is needed. They’re also able to produce models to show where constraints are and identify potential bottlenecks.
Another reason why Orchestrate has proved so effective is because employees found it intuitive and were quick to adopt it.
As the same planner mentioned earlier puts it, ‘the right people see the right things at the right time.’ He added that while it would be possible to scale up without an APS, the resources required would be much bigger.
CONCLUSION
As this company has proved, Access Orchestrate delivers tangible benefits right after implementation and provides the confidence required to scale up. Given the complexity of their work, production teams cannot afford to be held back by time-consuming and error-prone processes. But complete visibility across the shop floor enables them to improve manufacturing practices and help the company achieve its goals.
Click here for more details on Access Orchestrate or to book a demo.