December 6, 2023
By James Jardine, GxP Lifeline Editor, MasterControl
Effective corrective action/preventive action (CAPA) management isn’t just a regulatory requirement – it has a direct and measurable impact on product quality. If you want to optimize and simplify CAPA, these best practices provide the perfect starting point.
July 10, 2023
By David Butcher, Staff Writer, MasterControl
Even as manufacturers invest in system digitization and automation, the people responsible for production records have been left to manage paper, spreadsheets and other standalone systems to collect, record and interpret data relating to production and quality processes. By extending digitization beyond their core systems to their production records, manufacturers can gain a more complete view of their data, optimize manufacturing and ensure quality throughout the production life cycle.
May 17, 2022
By James Jardine, GxP Lifeline Editor, MasterControl
Intelligent, connected technologies are transforming the way life sciences companies manufacture and ensure the quality of their products. To stay competitive, companies are taking advantage of advanced tools and new technology-enhanced approaches to quality management. Leveraging the new solutions and enhanced levels of connectivity now available requires that you first understand three foundational principles of fruitful Quality 4.0 initiatives.
June 30, 2021
By Arvilla Trag, RAC, Consultant, BioProcess Technology
Quality agreements between organizations and contract manufacturing organizations (CMO), particularly in pharma, can be crucial to increasing ROI for a manufacturer. But there is a right way and a wrong way to approach quality agreements. Learn some best practices on how to produce more efficient and effective quality agreements.
May 20, 2021
By James Jardine, GxP Lifeline Editor, 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.
November 10, 2020
By Sarah Beale, Staff Writer, MasterControl
There’s no reason to keep living in the past when it comes to your batch review process. With review by exception, you can accelerate your processes to get product out the door faster. All while reducing frustration in both quality and manufacturing.
July 16, 2020
By Sarah Beale, Staff Writer, MasterControl
MasterControl Product Management Director Sue Marchant sat down with GxP Lifeline to talk about our platform approach, why that’s important and how it can eventually lead to artificial intelligence (AI) applications for our customers. She also gave us a sneak peek at what to expect in the next generation of MasterControl products.
May 14, 2020
By Matt Brawner, Director of Sales Execution, Sequence, and David Jensen, Staff Writer, MasterControl
Complying with the many record and data management requirements for 21 CFR Part 11 and data integrity can be daunting. In this article, Matt Brawner, data integrity subject matter expert (SME) at Sequence Inc., explains how companies can integrate Part 11 and data integrity processes to accelerate pathways to approval and deliver higher quality products to market.
April 28, 2020
By Dale Thompson, Staff Writer, MasterControl
Your path to quality manufacturing is simple: eliminate paper production records and digitize your shop floor. Follow these steps to achieve results that matter and drive revenue.
April 21, 2020
By James Jardine, GxP Lifeline Editor, MasterControl
Shrinking margins, intensifying competition and rapidly increasing product personalization and customization are complicating new product introduction pipelines in the life sciences. Leveraging the data connectivity capabilities of platforms is the key to overcoming these and other obstructions to a connected quality life cycle.
April 9, 2020
By Angelo Scangas, President and CEO, Quality Support Group (QSG)
A manufacturer’s ability to maintain high-quality products and regulatory compliance depends largely on its suppliers’ own quality-related activities. Leveraged correctly, supplier audits can be an important tool that gives manufacturers greater visibility into these activities, according to Quality Support Group CEO Angelo Scangas.
April 7, 2020
By David Jensen, Staff Writer, MasterControl
The International Organization of Standards (ISO) is a global organization that defines essential requirements for helping businesses improve their products, services and customer relations. Applying these guidelines enables organizations to give their customers the assurance that their products and services are safe, reliable and of good quality. This article introduces the most popular ISO standards and discusses how companies can use them to gain a competitive edge in their markets.
March 26, 2020
By Sarah Beale, Staff Writer, MasterControl
In honor of Leonard Nimoy’s birthday, we’ve taken some of Spock’s words of wisdom and applied them to manufacturing. Because it’s only logical to get paper off the shop floor and fully digitize your processes.
December 11, 2019
By Mike Rigert, Staff Writer, MasterControl
A recent U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) report indicates one of the reasons for drug shortages in the U.S. is the absence of incentives for manufacturers’ facilities to go beyond minimal quality compliance. A proposed voluntary FDA ratings system based on objective criteria could potentially benefit and reward drugmakers for their facilities’ heightened quality manufacturing maturity.
December 4, 2019
By Sarah Beale, Staff Writer, MasterControl
The future of quality is closer than you might think, and the time to prepare is now. During the 2019 Masters Summit, MasterControl Partner KPMG presented a session on the future of quality and how it can help the life sciences industries now.
October 29, 2019
By David Butcher, Staff Writer, MasterControl
In a recent presentation at MD&M Minneapolis, Terrance Holbrook, director of product at MasterControl, and Robert DePalma, VP of regulatory affairs at Pyrexar Medical, explained how manufacturers that digitally connect their production record system with other data sources will quickly stand apart from competitors.
August 15, 2019
By James Jardine, GxP Lifeline Editor, MasterControl
Even the slightest oversights or errors can lead to product recalls. Learn about the primary causes of recalls, how regulators classify recalls, the four critical steps of recall recovery, and strategies that can help you avoid recalls altogether.
July 18, 2019
By Beth Pedersen, Staff Writer, MasterControl
Sparks have long flown between quality and manufacturing, and the adversarial nature of their relationship seems to be an accepted reality. But rarely does the discussion move beyond simply recognizing that a conflict exists. What is the cause of the divide? How can it be bridged? And what do companies stand to gain by doing so?
May 16, 2019
By Beth Pedersen, Staff Writer, MasterControl
Quality by Design (QbD) continues to be a hot topic across the life sciences industries. As more of the pharma sector implements pharmaceutical QbD, regulatory bodies work to further develop a common understanding of key concepts, terminology and expectations.
April 16, 2019
By David Butcher, Staff Writer, MasterControl
Life science and other companies doing business in FDA- and ISO-regulated environments understand how critical quality control and quality assurance are to successful quality management. “Quality control” and “quality assurance” are often used interchangeably when referring to activities conducted to ensure the quality of a product, service or process. Some quality control and quality assurance activities are interrelated, but the two are not necessarily interchangeable. Understanding the difference between the two quality processes is important, and a robust electronic quality management system (EQMS) will enable organizations to better manage both.
