August 30, 2023
By David Butcher, Staff Writer, MasterControl
Supplier performance greatly affects the cost, quality, delivery, and responsiveness of a manufacturer’s business. For any life sciences manufacturer whose product quality relies in part on a supplier’s own product or service, the organisation must be able to ensure or improve high supplier performance. Discover why supplier scorecards are a logical place to start.
July 11, 2023
by David Jensen, Staff Writer, MasterControl
At MasterControl, we wanted to determine the extent of digital maturity at life sciences companies in their manufacturing production management processes. We gained valuable insight from a survey of 152 life sciences companies worldwide in pharmaceutical, biotech, biologics, and medical device manufacturing. Find out how your organisation can learn from the experience of others in overcoming production gaps.
June 15, 2023
By Sarah Beale, Staff Writer, MasterControl
Digitising is a difficult process that involves every department in an organisation. At MasterControl, we conducted original research on where the life sciences industry stands in its QMS digitisation efforts and how we can help you make progress on your journey and overcome these difficulties.
May 30, 2023
by David Jensen, Staff Writer, MasterControl
It’s no secret that relationships can be complicated — even downright unhealthy. Figuring out where you stand and constantly having to decide your next course of action is exhausting. If you’re in life sciences manufacturing, you’re likely in an unhealthy relationship with paper batch records. Where is your relationship with paper headed? Take this quiz to find out.
May 17, 2023
By Sarah Beale, Staff Writer, MasterControl
Problematic quality processes can cause a rift between you and your auditor. If these issues aren’t addressed, you might find yourself dealing with the silent treatment. This quiz can tell you how things are going with your auditor.
December 7, 2021
By Sara Bresee, Managing Director of APAC, MasterControl
At MasterControl, we are broadening our gaze to the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. Managing Director of APAC, Sara Bresee, weighs in on why modern manufacturing solutions are critical to APAC and around the globe. A digital system is what’s needed to be adaptable, meet regulatory requirements, and deliver the high level of quality your customers deserve.
November 22, 2021
By David Butcher, Staff Writer, MasterControl
Digital transformation initiatives were already underway among life sciences manufacturers before COVID-19 struck, but the volatility around the global pandemic brought to light the importance of digital technologies in the supply chain. Research indicates that companies digitised many activities 20-25 times faster as a result of COVID-19. Integrating digital technologies in the supply chain has enormous implications for life science organisations.
November 18, 2021
By Brian Curran, Senior VP of Strategic Growth, MasterControl
To support advanced data technologies and to compete in a modern market, manufacturers must close the digital gap on the shop floor, where critical production processes remain paper-based and disconnected. Digitizing the paper-based production record process can close this gap by creating productive connections between people, processes, and systems throughout the manufacturing process and across the entire enterprise for a holistic view of production data.
November 9, 2021
By Dale Thompson, Staff Writer, MasterControl
If you haven't digitized yet, it's hurting the bottom line. As reported by Deloitte, digitally mature companies are, "about twice as likely as lower-maturity ones to report net profit margins an annual growth significantly above their industry average." Here's a look at five critical ways that paper-based processes are eating into revenue.
November 2, 2021
By David Butcher, Staff Writer, MasterControl
In light of the COVID-19 pandemic’s disruption to the global supply chain and the urgency around manufacturers quickly delivering life-saving products, it makes sense that manufacturing organisations and their supply partners might reassess their relationships and obligations to one another to manage the results of disruption to supply chain partners.
October 26, 2021
By David Butcher, Staff Writer, MasterControl
A manufacturer’s ability to deliver high-quality products and maintain regulatory compliance relies in part on the quality-related activities of its own suppliers and vendors. Supplier and vendor audits can be important tools for manufacturing organisations to ensure their suppliers and vendors aren’t the source of major issues in product parts or materials. Digitisation can dramatically enhance supplier audits and vendor qualification audits in a number of ways.
October 7, 2021
By David Butcher, Staff Writer, MasterControl
Medical device manufacturers must adhere to strict regulatory requirements, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s 21 CFR Part 820 is a crucial set of regulatory guidelines meant to ensure the medical devices are high quality, safe, and effective. As part of these regulatory requirements, manufacturers must establish and maintain a medical device design history file (DHF) for each type of device. The following is an overview of the FDA’s design control and DHF expectations, as well as the role of the technical file/design dossier in European regulatory requirements.
August 26, 2021
By James Jardine, Staff Writer, MasterControl
Extrapolating the root cause of a quality problem isn’t the same as determining the problem’s real cause. Learn how to discern real causes and avoid the cycle of recurring root cause investigations.
July 1, 2021
By James Jardine, Staff Writer, MasterControl
Quality assurance and quality control aren’t identical or interchangeable. Comparing the two functions to television’s most enduring police crime drama might help you explain their differences to your peers.
June 2, 2021
By Philippe Charbon, President, Apsalys
Your company needs to an integrated, automated quality management system (QMS) to help you get your products to market faster and more efficiently. Where do you start? Consider these 10 steps to help you audit your current system and processes, get stakeholders onboard, and implement a QMS that will signifcantly improve your company's quality processes.
April 29, 2021
By David Butcher, Staff Writer, MasterControl
For professionals in the business of quality, inspiration can be found in all sorts of ways, from studying other industries to browsing the patent office or even taking a different route to work. A simple but often motivating approach is to look to words of wisdom from experts in their fields. Here are five insightful quotations, from a variety of fields, that carry quite a bit of truth for quality professionals.
April 27, 2021
By Sarah Beale, Staff Writer, MasterControl
Before the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act of 1938, shopping could be hazardous to your health. The market was flooded with deceptive and dangerous products. The confidence we have today in food, drugs, medical devices, and cosmetics is largely due to the FD&C Act and the amendments that followed.
February 12, 2021
By Rod Farrar Director, Paladin Risk Management Services
The task of measuring the benefits risk management brings to an organization is a challenging one. To overcome this challenge, the measurement of risk management performance needs to consider a wide range of factors.
February 10, 2021
By Dale Thompson, Staff Writer, MasterControl
The president of Wellington Foods, a leading contract manufacturer of nutraceuticals, explains why quality should be an organization’s top priority. This approach helps manufacturers achieve better process control and plan for significant growth without worrying about highly complex manufacturing processes.
January 19, 2021
By Sarah Beale, Staff Writer, MasterControl
Artificial intelligence (AI) isn’t just a cool tech trend. At the rate it’s going, it’s shaping the future of quality in the life sciences. Which is why we’ve designed a new data analytics solution that gives users complete control over their data and uses AI to drive decision-making.
