Excellence in Integrating LIMS and Life Science Supply Chain Management by Infosys Lodestone Operational integration within the supply chain requires more than just state-of-the-art IT systems.
Table of Contents One of the Key Demands for the Future is to Enable Laboratories to Work Seamlessly with the Internal and External Supply Chain Process... 3 Current State of Integration... 4 Current State of Standardization... 6 Achieving Full Supply Chain Integration - Infosys Lodestone Lodestone Approach Approach..... 7 Opportunities and Benefits... 8 Conclusions and Recommendations... 9 Authors... 10 2
One of the Key Demands for the Future is to Enable Laboratories to Work Seamlessly with the Internal and External Supply Chain Process State-of-the-art LIMS solutions have become commonplace in the quality control laboratories of Life Science companies. Almost all major companies have implemented new systems and have gained significant operational experience. However, even with a modern LIMS system seamless integration with the company s supply chain remains a challenge for most organizations. Supply chain integration of quality control laboratories and LIMS to MES and ERP systems is often limited to a few technical point-to-point interfaces. Lack of integration has resulted in process, data and technology gaps requiring workaround solutions. Significant opportunities exist to improve operational business process excellence through integration. There are many factors that are driving life sciences companies to dramatically change their way of working including, Process Analytical Technologies (PAT), Real-Time Product Release, epedigree and Track & Trace. These factors and other influences will require companies to investigate ways of better integrating and harmonizing quality control with supply chain. In this paper we will examine the typical state of the integra- tion of laboratories and their LIMS with the rest of the supply chain. We will highlight some of the reasons that led to the cur- rent issues and outline Infosys Lodestone Lodestone Management approach Consultants that will help approach companies that will achieve help companies full integration achieve of their full quality integration control of operations their quality with control their operations supply chain. with their supply chain. 3
Current State of Integration Most large pharmaceutical organizations have implemented State-of-the-art ERP, MES and LIMS solutions. But few organizations have achieved full supply chain integration between these applications. The typical level of integration is depicted in Figure 1, which shows how today laboratories and their LIMS integrate with other key functions: with Laboratory Equipment & Workflow Traditional LIMS territory with advanced process integration in the laboratory shop floor Seamless integration and high automation of labs is an option, but still wishfull thinking in many with MES & Production Shop-floor Fairly good integration with Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) and production Opportunities to increase the level of process and system integration are there, but not used with ERP & Supply Chain Integration of LIMS and ERP is reduced to bi-directional, technical interfaces LIMS are perceived as black boxes due to inadequate alignment with key supply chain operations Operational integration within the supply chain requires more than just a state-of-the-art ERP, MES and LIMS landscape Low High Low High Low High Figure 1: Level of LIMS integration There are a number of factors that have led to the varying degrees of integration that we find with many organizations. Figure 2 highlights some of the key reasons. Understanding these reasons will help organizations avoid these issues in the future and provide the foundation addressing the problem and achieving better supply chain integration. 4
When companies were implementing or updating laboratory systems, opportunities to integrate were not always considered: ndue to the cost and risk to the business, integration to LIMS systems were not always fully considered when implementing or updating ERP systems nin best-of-breed implementations, not enough attention was given to the aspect of LIMS integration nin LIMS implementations often we only find basic integration to MES and production shop floor systems. Only the immediate integration requirements have been considered noptions to run specific laboratory equipment and workflow processes in ERP or MES were not considered and/or implemented nin some instances a lack of knowledge amongst vendors and their ability to understand and appreciate the need for integration nlims processes and requirements are not discussed outside of the quality department and therefore integration points and opportunities are not fully considered ncommon or standardized processes for key integration points were not developed across production sites. LIMS implementations focused on site specific operations and did not consider common integration points to the global supply chain As a result of these and other factors we find a lack of standardization and varying degrees of harmonization between LIMS systems and the supply chain. Potential synergies with key supply chain functions remain undiscovered, and seamless operational integration is not achieved. ERP & Supply Chain LIMS are left out when a new ERP system is implemented, due to cost & risk MES & Production Shop-floor Very basic integration only to satisfy the immediate needs from MES Lack of innovation When a new LIMS is put in place, the scope is kept tight and focused on daily QC operations LIMS promotes a reactive environment into daily operations instead of a proactive one Lack of knowledge Sometimes the ERP-knowledge of LIMS vendors is not too good and vice versa Missed opportunities Potential synergies with key supply chain functions remain undiscovered, and seamless operational integration is not achieved Laboratory Equipment & workflow Strong options to run specific processes in ERP or ME Sare not discussed Political drivers Traditional LIMS territory is not discussed with anyone outside of the quality department Figure 2: Reasons for lack of integration 5
Current State of Standardization A prerequisite to achieving full supply chain integration is the standardization of key processes within the ERP, MES and LIMS systems. Figure 3 depicts the typical levels of standardization that are found. LIMS & Laboratories LIMS systems are in most cases not standardized across the different production sites MES systems are only in few MES & Production Shop-floor MES systems are only in few cases standardized, but process standardization is very high ERP & Supply Chain ERP systems are highly standardized with globally agreed, common process design Level of standardization Figure 3: Process standardization Where ERP and supply chain processes are often highly standardized, with a globally designed process and business rules that are mandatory for all partners along the supply chain, the level of process standardization is the opposite for LIMS. LIMS systems are in most cases not standardized across the different production sites. The basic business processes are similar, but LIMS are used discriminatively due to local, historically grown specifics. While local manufacturing sites have site specific operations to cover local requirements, all partners have common integration points with the global supply chain. For these common integration points, standardized business processes must be defined to achieve operational integration with the supply chain. Designing a standardized model for key business processes allows the local quality departments to become a standardized unit with a high ability to work with and influence the fast changing supply chain. 6
Achieving Full Supply Chain Integration - Lodestone Infosys Lodestone Approach Approach Based on the current state of integration and standardization, companies must take a systematic approach to analyze their business and look for opportunities to improve. The project should be viewed as a Business Excellence project and not an IT driven project. Lodestone Infosys Lodestone has the experience has the experience to help guide to organizations help guide through organizations the process through of the standardization process of standardization assist companies and assist in companies identifying in opportunities identifying opportunities to increase to systems increase integration systems across integration the supply across chain. the supply chain. Experience shows that in Life Sciences around 20 key business processes managed in the ERP MES-LIMS triangle provide huge potential for improved supply chain integration. Figure 4 below depicts Infosys Lodestone s Lodestone s approach approach to design to design and implement and implement integrated integrated business business processes processes in an existing in an existing ERP MES ERP MES LIMS environment. LIMS environment. Insight Design Execute Achieve Review the integration points in your ERPMES-LIMS triangle Conceptually design & verify the to-be business process model Run a proof-of-concept in a prototype system Turn technology benefits into real business benefits Institutionalize the change and leverage the business benefit Perform a fit/gap assessment and build the case for change Perform an impact assessment on existing organization, systems & data Drive business change management, review impact on SOP s and training needs Retire the old data, processes or systems no longer required Share the new design as best practice with other affiliates M-1 M-2 M-3 M-4 Figure 4: A typical project by phases Following are a number of opportunities and examples of benefits that companies can anticipate as a result of better systems integration within the supply chain. 7
Opportunities and Benefits Improved monitoring of internal and external quality control cost Most organizations do not take full advantage of available quality cost information because it is not fully accessed or not transparent enough to meet their needs. As an example, planning efforts for quality control and their associated cost information are maintained in ERP while actual cost data is collected in LIMS. Many organizations do not have a reconciliation process between planned costs and actual costs. As a result, wrong or outdated planning data is used for product cost calculations or for invoice generation of service laboratory activities. This situation also applies to the monitoring of external operations executed by 3rd party labs. Due to the missing integration with supply chain planning, yearly forecasting of projected external lab costs based on the actual manufacturing plan is not possible. Strategic decisions to outsource specific tests or to enhance internal lab capacity or resources are taken based on wrong information, or are not supported by any actual data at all. Integrated cost monitoring between LIMS and ERP ensures visibility and transparency of quality cost information within the supply chain. Reliable cost data provides a foundation for significant cost saving potential. Provision of quality certificates across the supply chain In many companies the creation and provision of quality certificates is a stand-alone quality activity, detached from key supply chain processes such as physical shipments. Quality certificates are often not available when required, or customer or country-specific information is wrong or missing. Missing or incorrect quality certificate information can result in delayed shipment of product to customer. The distribution of quality certificates along the supply chain is often a manual process supported by mail and fax. The integration of the certificate creation with key supply chain processes allows a high degree of automation ensuring that relevant documents are available at the time of shipment. Central provision of quality certificates and easy retrieval processes via web solutions ensures that relevant data is accessible at any time from anywhere, across different geographical regions, time zones and organizations. Additional benefits are seen in the reduction of certificate templates with customer or country-specific information. At one of our clients, a multinational Pharmaceutical company, we achieved the reduction from more than 400 templates to 1. Greater benefits are typically realized by organizations who utilize external laboratory services. Managing external services via operational purchasing processes in ERP provides a seamless flow of information from contract negotiations to purchase order creation and finally to invoice verification. Integrated planning of manufacturing and quality control due dates should read A key issue in many organizations is that LIMS quality control planning activities are not integrated to the planning and execution activities in both ERP and MES. The planning of sample testing activities in LIMS is a black box for production planners. Sample testing is rarely aligned with planned availability dates of manufactured or purchased goods. Quality control becomes the bottleneck and has a negative impact on lead times within material availability planning. An integrated planning approach ensures that quality control lead times are seamlessly embedded in material availability planning and bottlenecks disappear. Planning of capacities, resources and test dates for individual laboratories are fully aligned with the rest of the supply chain. Unexpected delays or a reprioritization of production shifts at short notice are immediately visible to quality control planners and allow fast reaction and higher flexibility in manufacturing planning and execution. Integration of quality control activities has resulted in lead time reductions of 15 20% percent at some of Lodestone s Infosys Lodestone s clients. clients. 8
Conclusions and Recommendations Operational integration and process standardization are the key factors businesses have to embrace as they plan their Business Excellence strategies. noperational integration of quality control operations with the supply chain requires more than just state-of-the-art LIMS nchanges in the way companies will work in the future will require better laboratory systems integration to the supply chain nprocess standardization is a key prerequisite to achieve operational integrity within global supply chains nquality departments must develop good expertise in complex supply chain processes nlims implementation projects should be positioned as Business Excellence projects, not as pure IT exercises The ability to learn and adapt from other leading edge industries on how to utilise and change existing business processes to gain the most out of your applications is essential to prepare the organization for the upcoming challenges for the lab of the 21st century.
Authors Michael Schmidt, Director, Switzerland Michael brings 10+ years of management consulting experience for multinational corporations and has worked as lead consultant for major clients in Life Sciences, managing complex ERP and supply chain transformation projects as well as global, large-scale LIMS implementations. Main areas of expertise are best practice implementations of enterprise LIMS solutions and the integration with supply chain systems (ERP, APS, BI, MES, and ELN). Stefan Kubick, Senior Consultant, Germany Stefan has several years of consulting experience for multinational companies in Life Science industries. He has worked for several Pharmaceutical companies and brings deep expertise in defining global LIMS solutions based on SAP QM, with the main focus on supply chain integration and the connection to the laboratory shop floor. About Infosys Lodestone Infosys Lodestone, a fully owned subsidiary of Infosys, is a management consulting firm advising international companies on strategy and process optimization as well as IT-enabled transformation. Adopting a value-integration approach, Infosys Lodestone is focused on a value-adding combination of management and IT consulting. The firm, with its 1200 employees in 17 countries on five continents, delivers consulting services primarily geared to the life science, chemical and financial services industries as well as the investment, automotive and consumer goods sectors. 10
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