FYI: SSA to Team with Compaq on Pharm. Solution...
Compaq, Base Ten, Beckman, NovaSoft and SSA Partner for a Best-of-Breed Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Solution Set
World-Class Vendors Revolutionize Traditional Pharmaceutical Application Integration Across Manufacturing Environments
Editors' Summary
Companies will provide pharmaceutical organizations with solutions designed to speed the development, integration, and deployment of manufacturing applications while enabling them to lower the cost of validation, automate quality control procedures, and accelerate time-to-market.
Compaq's BusinessBus provides the core application integration technology for deploying best-of-breed solutions in a much shorter timeframe and with minimal impact on existing coding or applications.
HOUSTON, Aug. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Compaq Computer Corp.(NYSE: CPQ - news), Base Ten Systems, Beckman Coulter(TM), Inc., NovaSoft Systems, Inc., and System Software Associates (SSA) today announced a software solution set that provides pharmaceutical organizations with a revolutionary manufacturing capability designed to reduce the cost of regulatory compliance, shorten the time between customer demand and product fulfillment, and easily incorporate dynamic workflow enhancements. The solution set is based on Compaq's unique BusinessBus technology, which enables the seamless integration of disparate mission-critical and process driven applications, allowing pharmaceutical companies to connect applications without custom coding interfaces and without modifying the original code within applications. The solution also includes:
NovaSoft's Novation integrated workflow and Enterprise Document Management System (EDMS), which provides a solution for standard operating procedure (SOP) management, and new drug submission (NDA) management.
Base Ten's Manufacturing Execution System (MES), which provides automated GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) compliance, electronic batch record, and complete weighing/counting of inventory materials into production.
Beckman's Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS), which includes automated data, and lab resource management for GLP (Good Laboratory Practice) compliance.
SSA's Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)/Order Management System BPCS, which provides a single source of inventory control, supply chain management and electronic commerce.
The solution set provides complex pharmaceutical manufacturing environments a seamless integration framework to eliminate application gridlock. The integrated pharmaceutical manufacturing solution will enable users to lower the cost of validation, automate quality control procedures, immediately access customer order status, accelerate time-to-market, and integrate to other plant and enterprise applications.
The core technology for the solution set is based on BusinessBus, introduced by Digital Equipment Corp. just prior to Compaq's acquisition of Digital. Designed for heterogeneous environments, BusinessBus is a set of off-the-shelf application integration tools and services designed to speed up and simplify the complex, costly chore of integrating disparate enterprise resource planning (ERP) and manufacturing applications. The tools include an integration platform, an Integration Manager, and a library of application wrappers that provide the foundation for flexible and rapid integration of applications, enabling organizations to deploy best-of-breed solutions in a much shorter timeframe and with minimal impact on existing coding or applications. Compaq Services provides packaged installation and training services as well as custom integration services for BusinessBus.
''Compared to traditional point-to-point pharmaceutical manufacturing solutions, where integrating an additional application requires extensive coding, the BusinessBus scheme establishes a framework that minimizes coding efforts while insulating applications and expanding functionality by online workflow modification. This solution serves an immediate need for the pharmaceutical industry,'' said a senior analyst from AMR Research.
BusinessBus is designed to allow additional applications to be integrated easily and quickly into the architecture. For example, if a recently acquired subsidiary of a company were using the SAP R/3 application suite, the off-the- shelf COMPAQ R/3 wrapper could be used to incorporate the new subsidiary into the integration framework with minimal modification to the parent company's existing systems.
Solutia, Inc., for example, is using BusinessBus with its off-the-shelf SAP/R3 wrapper. ''It took us only 50 days from the time we completed BusinessBus training to get our application into production. Without it, we would have needed a small army of programmers,'' said Ray Mooney, Integration Director for Solutia.
''As part of this joint collaboration, NovaSoft's new Novation next generation EDMS system offers pharmaceutical companies the opportunity to dramatically reduce the cost and time required for validation. Novation provides a flexible environment that can manage the business process information generated and used by our application partners,'' said Jothy Rosenberg, CEO for NovaSoft.
Through the combined contributions of the five companies, this solution set will offer pharmaceutical companies a breadth of solutions to speed the development and deployment of manufacturing solutions ranging from workflow management to manufacturing processes and supply chain management to regulatory compliance and electronic commerce. This capability is available across a wide range of hardware platforms.
''As a follow-on to the launch of BusinessBus, this is a natural progression of Compaq's strategy to provide industry solutions with best-in- class partners. Together, these vendors' products encompass all elements of the pharmaceutical manufacturing process from order entry through product shipment,'' said Larry Greene, Pharmaceutical Industry Director, Compaq. ''By effectively streamlining these required applications, this group of vendors will enable pharmaceutical organizations to maximize their valuable resources and accelerate the manufacturing process, resulting in a more significant return on investment.''
Company Background -- Compaq Computer Corporation
Founded in 1982, Compaq Computer Corporation is a Fortune Global 100 company. Compaq is the second largest computer company in the world and the largest global supplier of personal computers. Compaq develops and markets hardware, software, solutions, and services, including industry-leading enterprise computing solutions, fault-tolerant business-critical solutions, networking and communication products, commercial desktop and portable products and consumer PCs. The company is an industry leader in environmentally friendly programs and business practices.
Compaq products are sold and supported in more than 100 countries through a network of authorized Compaq marketing partners. Customer support and information about Compaq and its products are on the World Wide Web at compaq.com and are available by calling 1-800-OK-COMPAQ. Product information and reseller locations are available by calling 1-800-345-1518.
About Base Ten Systems
Base Ten Systems is a leading supplier of manufacturing solutions to regulated industries. The company is focusing its efforts on execution systems and services for the pharmaceutical, chemical and medical products industries.
About Beckman Coulter, Inc.
Beckman Coulter provides client/server LIMS for scientific laboratories around the world. Beckman Coulter pioneered the laboratory automation industry in 1979 with the first successful LIMS, and is now SAP-certified. Beckman Coulter systems are installed at over 1,000 laboratories, serving industries that must meet high-quality standards and stringent regulatory requirements.
About NovaSoft Systems, Inc.
NovaSoft Systems, Inc., a leading developer of Intranet-based EDMS solutions, provides knowledge solutions that fuel global enterprises. Providing the industry's only JavaBeans(R) integrated workflow and document management solution, NovaSoft partners with industry solution integrators, ensuring that process-driven organizations maximize their resources to realize a significant return on investment.
About SSA
System Software Associates is a worldwide ERP Software and Services provider with fiscal year 1997 revenue of $430 million. Its principal product, BPCS Client/Server Version 6.0 is primarily sold to the industrial sector including, automotive, chemicals, consumer goods, electronics, general manufacturing, food and beverage, forest products and pharmaceuticals.
Compaq, Registered U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Product names mentioned herein may be trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective companies.
SOURCE: Compaq Computer Corp. |
