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Driving quality across the biologic supply chain
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Transforming the biologic supply chain through digitisation
TOTAL GLOBAL BIOLOGICS SPENDING HAS GROWN FROM $46BN IN 2002 TO A STAGGERING $221BN IN 2017. BTG’S HEAD OF SUPPLY CHAIN, ALON BEN DROR, DISCUSSES HOW ITS DIGITISED SUPPLY CHAIN WILL ENSURE THE COMPANY REMAINS A KEY PLAYER WORLDWIDE WRIT TEN BY
CATHERINE STURMAN
PRODUCED BY
HEYKEL OUNI
e u r o p e . b u s iw n ewsw. s cbht g i ei f. l.com
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ne of the first biologic companies in Israel, Bio Technology General (BTG) has become one of the most
highly respected businesses in the industry. Housing significant expertise, the company supports startups in the country and is responsible for the development, production and marketing of growth hormone Somatropin, EUFLEXXA for osteoarthritis sufferers and Biolon for ophthalmic surgeries. The company also responsible for the production of new API for fertility treatment - Recovelle Driving high quality standards across its operations, BTG has been recognised by the Israeli Ministry of Health for its commitment and unwavering focus on delivering high quality pharmaceuticals, which are commercialised in over 40 countries. The company is also set to see an investment of up to $15mn by its parent company, Ferring Pharmaceuticals, to expand its production capabilities in a mammalian cells operation for the production of fertility medicine. “We are having a lot of audits from different regulatory authorities each year and are passing all of them with ease. We are very proud of our quality, systems and processes,” explains Head of Supply Chain, Alon Ben Dror. Responsible for planning control, logistics, business technology, as well as BTG’s pro-
“ We need to ensure medicine supplied in high quality, which means controlled shipment and logistics routes, making sure we have the right safety stock for each market”
— Alon Ben Dror, Head of Supply Chain
curement activities, encompassing
ble for getting demand from the
direct and indirect costs, Alon has
markets through the ERP system, in
spearheaded the transformation
order to create work plans for produc-
of BTG’s supply chain processes,
tion and quality control. The logistics
placing the patient (or customer)
group manages our warehouses, raw
firmly at the helm.
material, packaging material and our
“Sometimes the customer is the
general technical warehouse. Thirdly,
patient but it can be a hospital or clinic.
the business technology element
We need to ensure medicine is sup-
encompasses two different areas, our
plied in high quality, which means
control system and automation, the
controlled shipment and logistics
other being IT.”
routes, making sure we have the right safety stock for each market,” he says.
IMPLEMENTING LEAN PROCESSES
“Planning and control are responsi-
By combining its IT and supply chain e u r o p e . b u s iw n ewsw. s cbht g i ei f. l.com
operations, BTG has digitised its processes to become not only lean, but responsive to any issues or surges in demand across the supply chain. Implementing a central automation system by Emerson, the company has gained the ability to control many of its production processes and visually look at all data received to better understand various trends. “We’ve connected our quality control system to our production system so processes are interfaced with each other and enable a quicker transformation of information and therefore better coordination and release time,” reflects Alon. “This has allowed us to further plan our logistics: how soon we can ship products, keep less inventory and reduce our cycle time. This is a big advantage for us. Our ERP system is also connected to the global organisation, so the market and global supply chain can see where things are in each point of time.” DEVELOPING NEW PRODUCTS
Such is the company’s growth, its $15mn investment from Ferring will help BTG to expand its production capabilities, utilise new technologies and develop new production lines to promote the growth of its products and services. An area of increased
focus is the manufacturing of fertility treatment Rekovelle, which will cater to ongoing global demands. “This product is going to be manufactured at several sites at Ferring, and we will also have a backup site in Switzerland. This FACT
• One of the first biotechnology companies in Israel • BTG supports the growing number of startups in the country • BTG develops, produces and markets growth hormone Somatropin, EUFLEXXA for osteoarthritis sufferers, Biolin for ophthalmic surgeries and Recovelle for fertility treatment • Recognised by the Israeli Ministry of Health for its commitment and unwavering focus on delivering high quality pharmaceuticals • The company has received a $15mn from its parent company, Ferring Pharmaceuticals to expand its production capabilities
investment will enable us to enhance the biotech process in bio reactors and the product is derived from mammalian cells,” says Ben Dror. However, communication across the organisation will remain a global challenge across the business. Supplying over 40 countries, BTG has worked to build trust and transparency, and regularly meets with all involved parties to guarantee mutually beneficial relationships. “It is important to be clear with our messages and to be very transparent with the information given to highlight that we are in this together,” Ben Dror adds. “Another challenge is that in many cases we have only one supplier. It is therefore important for us to maintain this relationship with suppliers and make them partners. This creates an environment where the supplier will also experience success. The supplier is crucial to the success of our organisation.” METHODOLOGY OF SAFETY
Additionally, in such a high cost, and highly e u r o p e . b u s iw n ewsw. s cbht g i ei f. l.com
Your process, our priority.
Let’s move forward together We’ve built our business on making the customer’s bottom line our top concern. With applications that span your bioprocess—from discovery through large-scale commercial production—we provide a complete line of integrated solutions from single-use technologies and cell culture to purification, analytics, and logistical services. So when it comes to the complex world of producing biologics-based therapeutics and vaccines, choose a partner with the vision to make yours a reality.
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regulated environment, it is imperative for the business to mitigate
Ben Dror. “We also have an SQDEC meth-
ongoing risks. Processes at BTG
odology, which stands for safety,
have been designed on a methodol-
quality, delivery, employee and cost.
ogy of safety, starting at ground
This is the base of the KPI structure
level.
at the organisation. We start with
“The first thing is to design your
safety as its most important thing,
processes the right way. The sec-
then move to quality. After that, it’s
ond thing is implementing a high
my responsibility to deliver and
awareness of safety culture. We
make sure patients and customers
have a safety programme, named
receive goods on time in full. Last
‘Safety Through Leadership’, where
but definitely not least, we have the
we train our team leaders, all the
employees. It is crucial for the
managers in the organisation and
organisation to make sure we have
also some employees to put safety
the right people in the right posi-
as part of their leadership,” notes
tions with a proper development w w w. b t g i l . c o m
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“ We’ve connected our quality control system to our production system so processes are interfaced with each other and enable a quicker transformation of information and therefore better coordination and release time” — Alon Ben Dror, Head of Supply Chain
plan. If we are able to succeed with the
operations, BTG will continue to house
four elements then the fifth, which is
significant expertise and remain a key
cost, will go down naturally.”
player in the biotechnology market.
Factoring in safety as part of its lean
“I see new ideas every day while we
culture, BTG has significantly reduced
are moving forward. BTG management
the number of risks across its opera-
is also focusing on new opportunities,”
tions and undertakes a number of
he concludes. “And with a strong
activities to protect the environment,
backup that we got from Ferring man-
such as filtering out harmful chemicals
agement, I believe that the future for
and neutralising materials before they
BTG is to keep growing and to be a
are thrown into drainage systems.
leading entity within the Ferring global
Delivering what Ben Dror describes
organisation.”
as “the full package” across its
e u r o p e . b u s iw n ewsw. s cbht g i ei f. l.com
Bio-Technology General (Israel) Ltd., Be’er Tuvia Industrial Zone, P.O. Box 571, Kiryat Malachi, 8310402 Israel. www.btgil.com