The outsourcing advantage

NGP. Pharmaceutical and biotech companies are under unprecedented pressure to manage costs more efficiently without compromising quality. How does a scientific asset management program help?
FB. Engaging a multi-vendor service provider has been proven to reduce the costs of equipment maintenance by up to 20 percent, and increase productivity by maximizing instrument uptime. Asset management programs remove the need for companies to negotiate with numerous original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), minimizing the administrative burden associated with laboratory operations and allowing R&D units to focus on their research objectives. From an end-user standpoint, the best programs will also employ on-site service engineers to deliver unmatched response time to unplanned system outages.

A scientific asset service program can deliver many additional benefits. By creating a detailed inventory of all a company’s assets using our proprietary software tool, AssetPlus, we can help an organization to gain insight and control over their total assets. This information can help organizations utilize equipment more effectively, offsetting capital expenditures. Valuable information about operating costs and the reliability of instruments is also readily available, which can assist in future purchasing decisions.

NGP. How do you guarantee flexibility to meet the industry’s specific requirements?
FB. The first step is to listen to our customers to understand their goals. Our programs are modular and scalable, depending on the specific customer’s needs. We work closely with customers to determine the scope of the project, the number of instruments included in the service plan and the type of service coverage required, ranging from managed maintenance using locally-based off-site engineers through to full maintenance support by an on-site team. All service models can be accommodated on one site or across multiple sites, and it is our job to make sure we help customers select the best model to achieve their goals.

NGP. Which are the key issues you see in lab asset management and how does GE approach them?
FB. We see several concerns arising from customers, the first one often being financial: will it be worth it? Bringing in multi-vendor service providers is proven to reduce overall costs and improve laboratory efficiencies, and we work hard with customers to ensure that the services we provide are tailored to their specific requirements. The GE team holds quarterly reviews with customers to track progress against key performance indicators, which helps our customers realize the value they are deriving from the program

Another question that arises is whether our engineers can match the technical expertise of engineers from an original equipment manufacturer (OEM), and the answer is that the service we provide matches or even exceeds that of OEM engineers. Our engineers are highly trained and have extensive experience of maintaining equipment from a wide range of suppliers for the most common laboratory processes. For more specialist equipment, OEMs can be called out; however, this process is managed by the GE Healthcare team, which both reduces the administrative burden and ensures that quality of service is not compromised. Response and fix times can also be dramatically improved by engaging GE SAS. For example, if a company opts to have a full-time engineer on site, response times are typically reduced to less than two hours and fix times to less than four hours, whereas three-day response times are not unusual from OEMs who have to dispatch engineers.

NGP. How do you ensure compliance?
FB. There are a few levels of compliance. The first is contractual compliance, in which you receive all of the benefits to which you are entitled by your contractual agreements (entitlements). In most cases, customers without an asset management program have no consistent way to track entitlements. A good asset management program can track and report entitlements – such as planned maintenance, response times and training – and ensure that the customer receives the most value from existing agreements.

The second level of compliance is regulatory compliance, which is critical for many of our customers. GE Healthcare has over 4000 man-years of experience in our quality teams, harnessed to a deep technical domain knowledge applied to regulatory and compliance documentation required to validate the same equipment our customers use. We can create new documentation, use the customer’s protocols or bring a library of existing protocols as required. Engaging GE SAS Scan improve regulatory compliance by providing consistency in equipment maintenance and validation. We require our service engineers to have annual current good manufacturing process (cGMP) training. We have the breadth and depth of experience to seamlessly integrate within the customer’s quality system.

NGP. And what are the implementation challenges of a scientific asset management program?
FB. Another concern customers have is to minimize the impact that scientific asset management programs have on their employees. We have extensive experience of working in harmony alongside laboratory and regulatory staff, and can draw on the change management expertise from within General Electric to help our customers through the implementation process with the minimum of fuss.

Upon appointment, we engage with many different in-house teams, from scientists to IT support staff, to ensure they are fully involved in the program’s implementation. By communicating with staff throughout the planning and execution stages and actively managing the change process, we can minimize any anxieties that staff may have.

NGP. Has there recently been an increase in the extent of asset management outsourcing?
FB. We have noticed an increasing trend towards outsourcing in the biotech and pharmaceutical industry, as companies are coming under increasing pressure to improve efficiency in response to mounting challenges. Engaging multi-vendor laboratory asset management services is becoming more commonplace, especially here in the US, as companies realize that by engaging an external supplier to maintain all laboratory equipment, scientists can focus on their job as researchers, instead of spending valuable time fixing laboratory instruments. These productivity gains are in addition to the benefits of consolidating a company’s vendor base, reducing overall costs and enhancing the levels of service received.

NGP. How can pharmaceutical and biotech companies get the full benefits of outsourcing and minimize the risks?
FB. One way of minimizing the risk is to choose to work with a multi-vendor provider, such as GE, that puts service-level agreements in place and establishes key performance indicators (KPIs) with all customers at the start of a relationship. Having performance indicators that are tracked provides a feedback mechanism to the customer, to show that benefits are being realized and end-users are satisfied with the program.

NGP. Where do you see the biggest potential for asset management services in the future?
FB. The biggest potential for multi-vendor service providers is to expand the range of services they are offering their customers. The consolidation of lab equipment maintenance provision into one contract is really just the start

We have recently announced the expansion of our Scientific Asset Service program to incorporate options for instrument financing, facility relocation, and GE’s Performance Solutions, alongside multi-vendor instrument maintenance and repair. Performance Solutions brings GE’s renowned Six-Sigma and LEAN approaches to biopharmaceutical companies to help optimize their processes and improve operational efficiency.

Through our Fast Trak service offering, GE Healthcare is in a unique position to offer advisory services in the area of biopharmaceutical manufacturing. GE maintains a staff of Ph.D. level scientists who can assist customers with development and scale-up and optimization of manufacturing processes. We expect to build upon these services in the future in an effort to deliver even greater value to our customers.

Bio:
For the past five years, Fraser Black, General Manager of GE Scientific Assets Services, has applied his deep market knowledge, thorough commercial experience and keen leadership skills to the development and commercialization of instrument services as a new professional business. Prior to this, he held senior leadership roles within Amersham Pharmacia Biotech.