SYSPRO Helps to Evolve Life and Science with Fisher Scientific

The diversity of companies falling under the Fisher Scientific International umbrella continues to be a challenge to effective corporate management. While each Fisher Scientific unit operates as an independent entity, the Fisher Scientific management team realizes that corporate control and economies of scale are necessary to enhance corporate profits, maximize operations, enhance quality and improve customer service. In an effort to facilitate proactive corporate decision-making, boost overall corporate efficiency and quality, and maximize customer service, the management team established common corporate software standards – ones that could eventually be adopted by all Fisher Scientific units. It was felt that software uniformity would facilitate efficiency as well as cost-containment. It would also streamline employee training, minimize the impact of employee turnover and ease software maintenance by Fisher Scientific’s IT department. In addition, standardized software would produce uniform data and reports, as well as provide the ability to generate customized reports – all necessary to maximize corporate control and decision-making. Moreover, common software standards would enhance management’s ability to conduct sophisticated research on sales and market trends.

Fisher Scientific International Inc., headquartered in Portsmouth, NH, is a worldwide leader in the design, manufacturing and sales of the highest quality life science and analytical products. The company produces thousands of lines of specialty and state-of-the-art laboratory products for the clinical, research and industrial markets. Fisher Scientific’s products basically fall into three categories: Clinical Diagnostics, Labware and Life Sciences, and Laboratory Equipment. With annual revenues exceeding one billion dollars, Fisher Scientific’s rapid growth has come from several fronts. Sales have grown as a result of rising worldwide expenditures on medical research and the demand for more sophisticated medical instrumentation and lab supplies to improve the speed, accuracy and cost-containment of the research and diagnostic testing. Fisher Scientific has also grown through worldwide acquisition. Today, Fisher Scientific consists of more than 50 different companies located around the globe. The majority of these companies can be classified as small- to mid-size manufacturing businesses (SMB), with unit sales typically ranging from $3 million to $200 million. While many of the Fisher Scientific International companies are single-site operations, some are characterized by multiple facilities. Additionally, many of the companies employ diverse manufacturing methodologies. Some units make and engineer product to order, while others build product to stock based upon sales forecasts. Still others employ a combination of methodologies, or what can be characterized as “mixed-mode” manufacturing.