Industry: Pharmaceuticals
Efficiency plays a decisive role in the production of small batches. This is where IT helps at MTN Neubrandenburg. It covers the entire value chain, ensuring greater flexibility, fewer errors and reliable decisions.
MTN is one of Europe’s top 3 manufacturers of dialysis concentrates. The company is also very successful internationally, with an export share of 50 percent. The recipe for success: While the competition has largely automated its processes and relies on mass production, customers can also order small quantities of patient-specific compounds from MTN. “We regularly supply more than 200 accounts also with small quantities. In order to make sure that this works economically and reliably with low-margin products, we have optimized almost all business processes with the CSB-System,” says managing director Irmtraud Steinert.
IT ensures efficiency and security
Modern technology instead of piles of paper, real-time information instead of manual data capture: With the CSB System, MTN has set the course for the digital future. In raw materials storage and container management, employees today work with mobile data capture devices that communicate with the ERP system. This is faster and less prone to errors because there are no media disruptions. The advantages are particularly noticeable in order picking, which, according to project manager Doris Wenselowski, is now virtually faultless. The entire system is based on barcodes with lot numbers that are assigned in receiving and which accompany the raw material throughout the manufacturing process up to the finished product.
The changeover from analog to digital is well advanced also in batch processing. On special industrial PCs, the CSB-Racks, the system exactly specifies the quantities that may be used in every recipe. During initial weighing, the system automatically checks whether the raw materials have the quality status “Free production”. Process-related data such as pH value and density are tested too. Important quality parameters are recorded during in-process control and checked against the defined limit values by the software. At the end, the system generates a label for every filled container including details about product, batch, expiration date and ingredients. The information is stored in 30 languages and is printed depending on the BOM variant. Finally, each pallet receives a SSCC label for tracing back the products.
Integrated lab information system
CSB-System at MTN documents all operational processes, archiving essential regulatory records in the document management system in a revision-proof manner. MTN carries out the strict quality controls in accordance with Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) and documents them with the integrated quality management and laboratory information system. A typical procedure is laboratory testing. This is where both incoming goods inspections as well as in-process controls and final inspections take place. The software generates test plans, test parameters, tolerances etc. for each sample. Authentication by the user is mandatory. In the event of any discrepancies, the batch concerned remains blocked.
Key figures for rapid decisions
In order for Irmtraud Steinert to be able to make the right decisions in every situation, she needs reliable figures. Sales statistics with reference to items, periods and customers, productivity ratios, delivery precision, stocks and stock values – today she can draw on standard evaluations for almost every KPI. Every Monday, an SQL query aligns the planned stock on hand with the current order situation and the information obtained from production. Whereas in the past, such analyses involved a lot of effort, today it takes the managing director just three minutes to call up all important details on her screen. “As a result, I immediately notice whether we have to ramp up production or make additional capacities available for order picking.”
Continuous improvement process
Establish a good project team, start with the master data and then gradually optimize all processes: this is a central recommendation that Irmtraud Steinert and Doris Wenselowski give when asked about lessons learned from the ERP project. Steinert adds: “We always ask ourselves where we want to go, how we can work better and more cost-effectively, and what solution the CSB-System offers.” The mobile applications will soon be used in other areas, for example in production. And also an upgrade of the financial accounting has been settled
