OCT. 3–CHAPEL HILL, NC–Top-performing pharmaceutical labs focus on quality control initiatives to reduce manufacturing costs and minimize production time, but firms that do not utilize specific quality control procedures suffer production costs and risk violations of federal laws, potentially resulting in a fine and stock value loss.

A new study by pharmaceutical research firm, Best Practices, LLC, reveals how top companies optimize productivity and quality in the pharmaceutical laboratory with minimal levels of rework and cost.

“Driving Productivity and Minimizing Rework in the Quality Control Laboratory,” available online at www.benchmarkingreports.com/r/r321.htm, highlights the drivers and metrics that optimize productivity and minimize costs in quality control laboratories.

For example, several benchmarked companies tie performance indicators to employee compensation. These companies boast extremely high first-pass yield of over 99 percent. One top-performing company employs six floor supervisors, who split their time between management responsibilities (40% of the time) and actual bench work (60% of the time), positively impacting throughput and the quality of work performed by analysts.

The study contains quality control laboratory operations at seven of the world’s top 15 pharmaceutical companies.

Key insights include:

–Levels and root causes of rework;

–Productivity and quality metrics labs use to manage performance;

–Optimal laboratory staffing levels and demographics including management-to-analyst ratios and staffing composition by education;

–Technologies and communication tactics used to manage and accelerate workflow –Organizational structures designed to improve knowledge sharing and productivity within labs.

“Quality control labs are a mission-critical component of drug manufacturing, which constitutes as much as 25% of the cost of bringing products to market,” says Keith Symmers, vice president of Best Practices LLC. “This study shows quality executives how to save time and money in their quality control testing processes.”