Optimizing your laboratory assets

GE Healthcare’s Matt Sawtell looks at the tools pharmaceutical companies can use to ensure they maximize their R&D dollars.

“Once this approach is adopted both the vendor and pharmaceutical company can form a true strategic partnership”
-Matt Sawtell

Pharma companies are striving to reduce costs without affecting quality, yet few have capitalized on the optimization of their laboratory assets. Why is this the case?
Matt Sawtell. The pharma and biotech industries have for a long time focused on driving cost out and continuous improvement in manufacturing, through widespread adoption of Lean and IT initiatives. However, there has been minimal focus on adopting these best in class approaches in R&D, leaving pharma companies at the 'early adopter' stage when it comes to laboratory asset management.

On the vendor side, companies in this space have been slow to evolve away from the standard service delivery structure. The step change needed now is to adopt an outsourcer/Chief Technology Officer approach. This would enable pharma companies to realise the value of a combined technology, IT, Lean, process and business intelligence offering in the management of laboratory assets in R&D.

Once this approach is adopted both the vendor and pharmaceutical company can form a true strategic partnership, ensuring each operational project makes an impact not only on hard cost savings and simplification of operating models, but also significantly improves the efficiency and productivity of scientists to focus on core activities.

What benefits does a complete laboratory asset management program offer?
MS. The industry is being advised to streamline R&D groups to small focused teams with more emphasis on ensuring R&D dollars are spent on drug development rather than non-core activities. Pharma is looking to outsource more of these non-core activities and a complete lifecycle laboratory asset management service will enable them to take advantage of integrated services, technologies and tools, going way beyond an extended service contract.

Although R&D is project-based and therefore more difficult to process map than manufacturing, there are many opportunities for improvement. The key initially is to gain visibility of every process and laboratory asset, including a complete understanding of where all assets are, how often they're used and moved, and the workflows they're used in.

At GE Healthcare, we have created an effective life sciences services solution, built around a Change Acceleration Programme (CAP) enabling fast and effective change, combined with data-driven decision making which provides a roadmap of when, how and where to drive that change. In addition, as these programmes cover the entire lifecycle of an asset, support is offered right through from purchase planning to disposition.

What tools can companies use to optimize the management of their laboratory assets?
MS. Although many pharma companies have already adopted measures on a low level, such as asset tracking, spend and asset utilisation analysis, they have certainly not maximized the benefit these tools can bring. Going over and above this, GE Healthcare's asset management service programs offer resources such as analysis of workflow and waste, data analytics designed to measure service quality, and benchmarking data to ensure spend, service levels and other variants, which are best in practise. 

Rather than supplying simple service level analysis, business intelligence gives insight into how assets are used, and an understanding of their value if unused, to support decisions around redeployment or disposal. In addition, insight into financing options and advice on asset purchase enables companies to really maximize CAPEX.

How do you see the area of laboratory asset management developing in the future?
MS. The current economic environment is forcing pharmaceutical companies and their suppliers to think differently about how to drive performance and make their business model more agile. With M&A activity showing no signs of easing off, all companies are looking to redefine their business practices in order to address both present and anticipated future market challenges.

Laboratory asset management providers need a deeper and faster adoption of learnings from other industry sectors such as the aircraft industry through reliability centre maintenance, IT outsourcers service agnostic approach and industry partnerships to enable IP creation. Service organisations are morphing into 'services' solution providers, offering consultative tools, technologies and change processes to become a more integral part of the pharmaceutical operating model. In this environment, strong organisations will thrive under the challenge of producing more aligned services and solutions. As Darwin once said, "It is not the strongest of the species that will survive, or the most intelligent. It is the most adaptable to change."

Matt Sawtell is Director Of Global Operations, Scientific Asset Services - Life Sciences, GE Healthcare.