How breaking down data siloes in biopharma manufacturing creates operational excellence
Operations director Troy Hurrell explores operational barriers in the biopharma industry and how advanced analytics can break these down to achieve excellence.
In the precision-driven world of biopharmaceutical manufacturing, operational excellence isn’t just about efficiency, it is essential for advancing critical research.
Over the last decade as an operational director, I’ve found that even the most sophisticated facilities struggle with disconnected data systems that create barriers against optimal performance. Through our work with leading biopharma manufacturers, we’ve discovered that breaking down these data siloes leads to measurable improvements. That includes reclaiming thousands of lab manager hours and reducing operational costs by six figures annually.
An integrated engineering approach that respects rigorous compliance requirements can allow manufacturers to transform their operational capabilities. My insights throughout this blog on integrating engineering operations can help you leverage advanced analytics to prevent costly downtime and achieve operational excellence.
That means your scientists can do what they do best – advance research and improve lives.
The challenge: Navigating regulatory compliance in siloed systems
Maintaining assets in a highly regulated industry like biopharma means our engineers need to adhere to stringent GxP (good practice) and GMP (good manufacturing practices) guidelines, which are overseen and regularly inspected by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency. These requirements also apply to the Enterprise Asset Management (EAM), Computerised Maintenance Management System (CMMS), and Computer Aided Facilities Management (CAFM) software used by manufacturers and engineers. These systems create an essential but complex compliance landscape.
The challenge emerges when manufacturers and facilities management teams operate separate systems, creating inefficient data siloes.
So how can we integrate these siloes? EMCOR UK’s Insight Intelligence platform can collate, clean and create a single, secure repository for all facilities and an estate’s data. This enables predictive maintenance and comprehensive asset visibility beyond what traditional systems offer. The insight gleaned can be transposed, simplified, and used to benchmark the manufacturer against industry peers.
For Insight Intelligence to operate, an overlay is needed from the manufacturer’s EAM and CAFM software with our own, which require custom-built systems made in line with the specifics of the manufacturer.
So, how do we put that into practice?
The solution: breaking down data barriers with integrated analytics
To take true advantage of custom-built analytical systems, engineers need to understand an asset’s regulatory requirements, location, and maintenance strategy within a wider ecosystem transcending data siloes and compliance issues.
Remote sensor monitoring is an excellent example, as its integration can glean continuous insight. For example, temperature and vibration level tracking can determine performance, efficiency, and asset longevity. For one customer, we developed a low-cost and time-efficient sensor solution for the monitoring of its Local Exhaust Ventilation (LEV) systems.
LEVs require critical compliance and uptime for the scientists that operate them, but their ability to check in on the 1,200 assets was previously limited within the customer’s CMMS. The system had limited reporting functionality and did not allow for analysis of key data such as failure by fault type, by manufacturer, or by highest use by location.
Our team analysed the existing data collection and reviewed what additional data points were required to build a new daily schedule. From there, we developed a cloud-based spreadsheet solution to collect and hold inspection data for all LEV checks across the site.
This solution feeds the data into a set of dashboards that have a drill-down capability to individual sites. As a result, the new system allows targeted analysis on risk data, inspection progress, and failure statistics.
We also developed QR codes for each cabinet, so now any scientist can scan one to immediately see the status of the machine, when it was last maintained, who by, and its flow rates. By listening to and working with our customers, our custom-built analytics platform now streamlines the scientific process.
Through our approach, our programme leader gained at least one day a week back from administration work, which they could use to manage critical risks. We also repurposed 52,000 lab manager hours, saving our customer £140,000 per annum.
The results: collaborative excellence in action
The LEV case study shows how coupling the values, services, and goals of our team with our customers is vital for effective collaboration.
In biopharma manufacturing, we have learnt that collaboration with engineering services must go beyond just service provision – it needs to be embedded in strategic planning and operational execution. EMCOR UK has 15 elements of Business-As-Usual (BAU) daily delivery, which include proactive asset monitoring, real-time performance tracking, and streamlined maintenance scheduling. By ensuring alignment between service teams and biopharma manufacturers, this structured approach enhances efficiency, maintains compliance, and creates a culture of continuous improvement.
Engineering solutions cannot be a plug-and-play, they need to be implemented within the complex structure of our manufacturing customers, compliant with their internal and industry governance frameworks. Our relationship with all customers requires trust, confidence, and regular contact. With that relationship in place, we can deliver better services, so biopharma manufacturers can deliver better science.
Contact us today and find out more about our custom-built biopharma solutions.
