Benchmarking: Contract Manufacturing Management
A top-5 global pharmaceutical determined that they needed to improve how they managed their contract manufacturing organization (CMO) relationships. MedPharma Partners was commissioned to perform a best practices study to identify leading CMO management practices within the pharmaceutical industry and in other industries such as automotive and electronics.
Many pharmaceutical and biotech firms are facing constraints on capital spending and are turning to CMOs to provide a more flexible capability to support their manufacturing needs. In addition, many firms are looking to reduce their pipeline risk exposure and rely on CMOs to provide capacity options for new products rather than building facilities in anticipation of clinical and market success. This represents a change in philosophy from simply outsourcing "cats and dogs" products whose patents have expired. As a result, the need to improve the management of CMOs has grown to ensure quality compliance and successful business relationships.
MedPharma Partners conducted a best practices study that encompassed more than 25 manufacturers and CMOs. The study covered a broad range of topics, including:
- Overall strategy for use of CMOs
- Supplier selection
- Contracting
- Internal management by customers
- Supplier performance and quality management
- Information technology
MedPharma was responsible for developing the interview guide, constructing the contact target list, approaching firms to participate in the study, conducting the interviews and developing summary materials describing the study’s findings.
The client leveraged the results of the study to redefine their organizational model and processes for managing CMOs. This is allowing a significantly better focus on quality, on-time delivery and competitive cost. CMOs are also benefiting from a more streamlined interaction with their customer.
"MedPharma Partners conducted the best practices study in an efficient and professional manner. Our internal efforts were greatly aided by the understanding of how other pharma and non-pharma companies were addressing similar management challenges." -- Director, Worldwide Contract Manufacturing
