Software AG Case Studies Efficient approval process leads to faster time-to-market

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	Efficient approval process leads to faster time-to-market Software AG

Efficient approval process leads to faster time-to-market

Software AG

Technology Category	Application Infrastructure & Middleware - API Integration & Management Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Data Exchange & Integration Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Middleware, SDKs & Libraries
Applicable Industries	Healthcare & Hospitals Pharmaceuticals
Applicable Functions	Product Research & Development Quality Assurance
Use Cases	Predictive Quality Analytics Regulatory Compliance Monitoring Root Cause Analysis & Diagnosis
Services	System Integration Software Design & Engineering Services
Challenge	The Fortune 500 company, a multinational medical device, pharmaceutical and consumer packaged goods manufacturer, was facing challenges with its Approval for Product Release (APR) process. The process was outdated, paper-based, and relied on disparate systems, making it difficult to streamline and benchmark across products and countries. The old process took up to two years to complete and required stakeholders to write thousands of emails back and forth for a single product approval. With email-based collaboration, it was nearly impossible to determine who was working on the document or if additional changes had been made since the last email was sent. When there are potentially 50 different people who might have to make adjustments to a single document, duplicate work was almost inevitable. Read More
About Customer	The customer is a Fortune 500 company that operates in the healthcare and pharmaceuticals industry. It is a multinational medical device, pharmaceutical, and consumer packaged goods manufacturer. The company is based in the United States and has more than 275 operating companies in over 60 countries. It employs approximately 128,000 people. The company has been relying on webMethods for reliable Business Process Management (BPM) and integration since 2001. The company's product approval process requires collaboration with many different stakeholders throughout the company and is comprised of numerous sub-processes carried out by disparate systems. In larger companies, the sheer volume of new products in the pipeline adds even more complexity. Read More
Solution	The company implemented a suite of webMethods solutions, including My webMethods Server, webMethods Business Process Management Suite, webMethods Composite Application Framework, webMethods Content Service Platform, and webMethods Integration Server. These solutions provided a fully integrated BPM solution, optimizing processes to be both thorough and efficient. The new solution allows stakeholders to access the same living document from a unified platform so that everyone is literally on the same page, regardless of region or department. From there it’s also possible to see a log of who made what changes and when. This completely removes the uncertainty associated with email-based collaboration. The new platform also has additional workflow management features that help employees prioritize tasks based on remaining workload and relative deadlines. Read More Log in to view content
Contents

Technology Category

Application Infrastructure & Middleware - API Integration & Management

Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Data Exchange & Integration

Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Middleware, SDKs & Libraries

Applicable Industries

Healthcare & Hospitals

Pharmaceuticals

Applicable Functions

Product Research & Development

Quality Assurance

Use Cases

Predictive Quality Analytics

Regulatory Compliance Monitoring

Root Cause Analysis & Diagnosis

Services

System Integration

Software Design & Engineering Services

Challenge

The Fortune 500 company, a multinational medical device, pharmaceutical and consumer packaged goods manufacturer, was facing challenges with its Approval for Product Release (APR) process. The process was outdated, paper-based, and relied on disparate systems, making it difficult to streamline and benchmark across products and countries. The old process took up to two years to complete and required stakeholders to write thousands of emails back and forth for a single product approval. With email-based collaboration, it was nearly impossible to determine who was working on the document or if additional changes had been made since the last email was sent. When there are potentially 50 different people who might have to make adjustments to a single document, duplicate work was almost inevitable.

About Customer

The customer is a Fortune 500 company that operates in the healthcare and pharmaceuticals industry. It is a multinational medical device, pharmaceutical, and consumer packaged goods manufacturer. The company is based in the United States and has more than 275 operating companies in over 60 countries. It employs approximately 128,000 people. The company has been relying on webMethods for reliable Business Process Management (BPM) and integration since 2001. The company's product approval process requires collaboration with many different stakeholders throughout the company and is comprised of numerous sub-processes carried out by disparate systems. In larger companies, the sheer volume of new products in the pipeline adds even more complexity.

Solution

The company implemented a suite of webMethods solutions, including My webMethods Server, webMethods Business Process Management Suite, webMethods Composite Application Framework, webMethods Content Service Platform, and webMethods Integration Server. These solutions provided a fully integrated BPM solution, optimizing processes to be both thorough and efficient. The new solution allows stakeholders to access the same living document from a unified platform so that everyone is literally on the same page, regardless of region or department. From there it’s also possible to see a log of who made what changes and when. This completely removes the uncertainty associated with email-based collaboration. The new platform also has additional workflow management features that help employees prioritize tasks based on remaining workload and relative deadlines.

Impact #1	The company achieved 75 percent faster product approvals, reducing the time from two years to six months.
Impact #2	The company experienced accelerated product launches due to reduced delays in the APR process.
Impact #3	The company implemented a harmonized approach for all products and regions.

Impact #1

The company achieved 75 percent faster product approvals, reducing the time from two years to six months.

Impact #2

The company experienced accelerated product launches due to reduced delays in the APR process.

Impact #3

The company implemented a harmonized approach for all products and regions.

Benefit #1	75 percent faster product approvals, from two years to six months.
Benefit #2	Reduced costs for regulatory audits.

Benefit #1

75 percent faster product approvals, from two years to six months.

Benefit #2

Reduced costs for regulatory audits.

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Overview

Efficient approval process leads to faster time-to-market

Operational Impact

Quantitative Benefit