PDMS awards major pharmaceuticals manufacturing system contract to SSI

May 9, 2005

International pharmaceuticals company Pharmaceutical Development and Manufacturing Services Limited (PDMS) has selected an ERP solution based on TROPOS from SSI as the core management system for its expanding global services business. TROPOS will help competitive positioning for PDMS by integrating client services with improved materials and manufacturing planning. It will ensure compliance with essential industry regulatory requirements including FDA Title 21 Code of Federal Regulations (21 CFR Part 11), and enable group wide financial reporting.

Northern Ireland based PDMS is an outsourcing partner to the international pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. Originally the formulation and manufacturing arm of Galen Limited, PDMS became a separate commercial operation in December 2003. Since then, it has grown its business to manage 220 product lines for clients in North America and Europe. Now part of Almac Sciences, PDMS plans to expand its customer base and its drug formulation business.

"To manage and grow a successful business in a highly competitive and regulated marketplace, we knew we needed better scheduling, forecasting, purchasing and stock control," says PDMS Managing Director, Graeme McBurney.

"We were constrained by manual processes for reporting and scheduling. We had to calculate our material requirements manually which meant if we encountered any changes to our forecasts we had to go back and re-calculate."

PDMS had four main objectives for a new system platform in mid 2004. It wanted automated real-time management reporting and the flexibility to run reports with good query options, so that it could schedule and forecast efficiently, and manage and value stock cost-effectively.

To improve its client services, PDMS wanted to integrate sales ordering processes with Material Requirements Planning (MRP) to produce real-time customer reports. To compete successfully for North American business, it needed to comply with the FDA 21 CFR Part 11, which includes requirement for electronic records and signatures. PDMS also needed the ERP, manufacturing and supply chain system to provide tightly coupled integration with Almac Sciences' standard financial reporting software Oracle Financials.

PDMS conducted a detailed requirements analysis in 2004 and initially engaged 11 potential suppliers for a replacement 50 user system. Following a filtering process, three short-listed suppliers, including SSI, were invited to present demonstration workshops. SSI was scored as the lead candidate. Following reference visits to other TROPOS customers in pharmaceuticals development and manufacturing, SSI was awarded the hardware, software and services contract in April 2005.

The software modules selected include TROPOS Pharmaceutical Manufacturing and TROPOS Supply Chain. PDMS is also taking TROPOS Application Development and TROPOS Integration Tools, Cognos Business Intelligence, Oracle Database and Oracle Financials. Hardware includes HP Application and Web Servers, using Windows, and Radio Frequency mobile data collection devices for manufacturing materials and data tracking. SSI will supply implementation consultancy, project management, technical and application training and support services.

Graeme McBurney, whose personal sponsorship of the project indicates its importance to the company, says that PDMS chose the TROPOS solution mainly because "TROPOS fitted with our business practices and our plans for future integration with other manufacturing execution systems (MES). It also had good practical add-ons, like the reporting toolbox. And we knew that TROPOS integration with Oracle Financials was proven."

PDMS also responded well to SSI's genuine interest, experience and openness about the solution's capabilities, including areas where configuration would be required to meet specific requirements. It liked the fact that TROPOS is SSI's own product. "We felt more than happy that the SSI people understood their own product well, and had good knowledge of the needs of our industry and regulators."

SSI Managing Director, Trevor Lewis believes that SSI was able to exhibit its specialist capabilities in winning the PDMS contract. "ERP and manufacturing solutions for regulated manufacturers are our key specialisation at SSI. So I'm delighted that this came across so strongly to PDMS. We are very proud that PDMS has chosen a TROPOS platform. It enhances our position in this very demanding market sector."

"We are looking for international success in our current and new market sectors", says Graeme McBurney. "We think PDMS has the right business infrastructure in plan to help us achieve that. The TROPOS solution will meet our immediate ERP, client and regulatory requirements, but it's also flexible enough to grow and integrate with other systems in future."

NOTES FOR EDITORS

About SSI

SSI specialises in the implementation and lifecycle support of web-optimised manufacturing and supply chain solutions for highly regulated process industries and 'lean' discrete manufacturers.

SSI is the developer of the class-leading TROPOS(tm) ERP solution, selected by many companies in the pharmaceuticals, food and drink, chemicals, and mill based manufacturing sectors. 'Lean' discrete manufacturers also benefit from significantly reduced lead times by using the TROPOS demand-pull model.

SSI offers end-to-end supply chain solutions including inventory optimisation, advanced planning, data collection systems and business intelligence solutions.

To complement its application solutions, SSI provides all the services required for lifecycle support with a single point of responsibility: project management, application implementation support, hosted application services, hosted web collaboration, remote managed services, bespoke systems development, systems integration, web development and technical consultancy.

Since 1982, SSI has been providing competitive advantage to a client base operating in the mid market, including small companies and subsidiaries of multinationals and large independent companies: Allergy Therapeutics, UCB Pharmaceuticals, Scottish Blood Transfusion Services, Pfizer, Shell, Adams Pork Products, Brintons Carpets, British Nuclear Fuels, G&J Greenall, Morganite, Rangemaster, Saxbys, Sony, Sundora, Tullis Russell, Turtle Wax and CWV (formerly Vymura). Recent wins include Fox's Confectionery, Uniq, Inter Link Foods and Hamworthy Combustion.

SSI is part of the AIM-quoted Chelford Group (CHR).

Contact:
Neville Merritt, Sales and Marketing Director, 01256 685296. Neville.Merritt@ssi-world.com

About PDMS

Almac Sciences is a recently formed organisation comprising five well established affiliated businesses: -
  • ArraDx (Array Based Diagnostics)
  • CSS (Chemical Synthesis Services)
  • CTS (Clinical Trial Services)
  • ICTI (Interactive Clinical Technologies Inc)
  • PDMS (Pharmaceutical Development and Manufacturing Services)
The services of Almac Sciences extend from drug discovery through all phases of clinical trials to the commercialisation of product.

Pharmaceutical Development & Manufacturing Services Limited (PDMS) is an FDA-approved outsourcing partner to the international pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors. PDMS offers a complete solution to drug development needs, from formulation development, including a full range of analytical services, to commercial-scale manufacture and packaging.

The company has more than 25 years' experience in the pharmaceutical industry.

Contact:

Graeme McBurney
Managing Director
Pharmaceutical Development and Manufacturing Services Limited
Seagoe Industrial Estate
Craigavon
BT63 5UA

Tel: +44 (0) 2838 332299
Fax: +44 (0) 2838 363300

TROPOS is a registered trademark of Strategic Systems International Ltd. SSI believes that information in the publication is accurate as of its publication date; such information is subject to change without notice. SSI is not responsible for any inadvertent errors
Copyright © 2005 Strategic Systems International Ltd.