Managing maintenance (and much more)

Jeff Weinert, General Manager, Scientific Asset Services, believes GE Healthcare can help companies deliver these benefits, while at the same time improving operational efficiency in their organisations.

Scientific Asset Services is an offering in which GE maintains and repairs instrumentation used by pharmaceutical and biotech companies. With Scientific Asset Services, our customers have a single point of contact for all of their service needs, which simplifies their operations. There is no need to track down contact information for a large number of suppliers because all service-related calls go to GE.

Once our systems are in place, customers have access to real-time information about their assets. This provides information about the total cost of ownership for the equipment, which is extremely difficult to obtain manually. Customers also have access to information about the location and condition of capital, which ensures that depreciation expenses are applied to the correct cost centres – a huge help for the finance department.

With GE managing all equipment maintenance and service issues, scientists can focus on their research instead of maintaining equipment. Scientific Asset Services also delivers benefits to the bottom line – our customers improve controllership and reduce equipment maintenance costs by as much as 20 percent.

Equipment covered

We have the capability to cover instruments from the lab bench all the way through full-scale manufacturing. Devices covered under the service agreements can include laboratory equipment such as balances, spectrophotometers, pH meters and centrifuges; analytical instruments like gas chromatographs, mass spectrometers and liquid scintillation counters, and even more highly specialized R&D systems such as pre-clinical imaging systems, bone densitometers and laboratory automation systems. We can also handle systems used for process development and full-scale manufacturing – that type of equipment is part of our core competency.

Of course, each situation is different and every agreement is tailored to the needs of our customers.

How does the programme work?

Scientific Asset Services is a total asset management approach. The first step is to inventory all equipment – a real eye-opener for many customers – and set it up in AssetPlus, a proprietary software tool for asset management. All equipment is barcoded as part of the inventory process, which expedites record keeping and ensures accurate and timely recordkeeping from that point forward.

An analysis of the equipment inventory list allows us to determine the proper mix of skills necessary for engineers that will be stationed at the customer site as our primary response team. We can hand-select personnel based on the requirements of each facility.

AssetPlus is really the heart of the system. It stores a wealth of information about equipment, it’s location, service history and maintenance schedule, to name a few things. All of this information can be accessed via PDAs that are in the hands of our service engineers. Every service event is captured on the PDAs and fed back into the database – helping the customer keep detailed maintenance records that are always up to date.

In the long run, our customers have a better understating of their equipment utilisation and a clear picture of the total cost of ownership for each device.

Experience, and lots of it

“Multi-Vendor Services”, as it is called in other parts of the company, has been a success for our customers for more than 10 years. Scientific Asset Services is an extension of the multi-vendor programme to the life sciences market, and began in mid-2005. Our first major deal was won in February 2006.

We were able to get off to a running start by leveraging the outstanding service technologies and processes that already existed in other parts of GE. We’ve made some changes to address the nuances of our market, but it is all built upon the award-winning service delivery model used in other parts of business. The clinical portion of GE Healthcare, along with GE Infrastructure (aircraft, energy and rail), has mature multi-vendor service offerings that we’ve leveraged as appropriate for our market.

Save up to 20%

Customers save money in a few ways. There is an efficiency gained from consolidation of many service agreements into a single agreement. The administrative cost of managing multiple vendor relationships and negotiating service agreements with each one is incredibly high. Customers minimise these costs by working with GE as a partner for their service needs.

The AssetPlus system also helps reveal inefficiencies. Customers may be paying for service contracts for items that aren’t being used, or paying different rates for the same equipment in different labs and facilities. Organising and consolidating the information reveals these discrepancies and enables customers to save money.

A single service provider can realise economies of scale. Servicing a large asset base allows GE to put engineers on site. Having engineers on-site allows customers to avoid paying high hourly fees for the travel time required for an off-site engineer to get to and from the customer. Having on-site resources is a more efficient model, and Scientific Asset Services gives us the critical mass of equipment to make it feasible and cost-effective.

Finally, companies save by utilising the equipment they have more efficiently, which results in lower capital expenditures. By having the complete picture of what equipment is owned, companies can make better decisions about resource utilisation. They often choose to redeploy existing assets rather than purchase new ones.

Other benefits

Customers get a wealth of information they can use in making purchasing decisions. Understanding what instrumentation the company has, and what is being underutilised, can help offset capital expenditures. When it is time to purchase equipment, having real information about the total cost of ownership and reliability for equipment can prove to be extremely valuable.

GE can also help customers in ways that go beyond Scientific Asset Services. Customers may elect to have GE train their staff in Six-Sigma, or conduct seminars on GE management practices. We can help customers improve in many ways that translate to their bottom line.

Repair everything

GE engineers maintain the equipment within our scope of competency. Our competency includes a wide range of equipment manufactured by GE and other companies. Part of our investment in Scientific Asset Services is devoted to developing competency in servicing instruments that comprise a sizeable portion of the installed base in most labs. After we analyse the inventory of equipment at a given site and understand its composition, we can match the proper engineering resources to it.

Of course, we invariably run into situations in which our on-site team needs access to specialised expertise. In these instances, we can draw upon the expertise of our global services team. By using technologies such as Bio InSite, a highly secure broadband connection developed by GE, our on-site engineers can access the expertise of “virtual engineers” from anywhere in the world. Our service technologies are a “force multiplier”, allowing a small number of people to tap into a much larger resource pool. It’s a huge benefit to our customers. We can respond more quickly, with the expertise they need.

There is also a small percentage of instruments so specialised that it isn’t feasible to have competency in-house. In these cases, we work with external service providers, including the OEM, to maintain the systems.

A high level of service

Of course, the best piece of equipment is one that doesn’t break in the first place. To that end, our programme makes planned maintenance a priority. The AssetPlus database alerts our engineers when any piece of equipment requires planned maintenance, and the maintenance event is scheduled. Keeping instruments properly maintained improves their reliability, and less downtime translates to more satisfied customers.

When unplanned outages do occur, GE engineers are prepared to respond. GE’s service technicians are highly trained to repair thousands of instruments manufactured by vendors other than GE, and the list is constantly growing. While there are a relatively small number of instruments that are unique and difficult to repair, most instruments employ technologies that are well-understood and common to multiple instrument platforms. An engineer familiar with an instrument made by one vendor can quickly learn how to service similar technology produced by other vendors.

The fact that many companies use in-house resources to service equipment speaks volumes about third party capabilities. Using in-house resources offers advantages in terms of response time. The main drawback to in-house is its high cost. Scientific Asset Services provides the benefits of in-house with the depth of experience of an OEM and GE’s outstanding processes and service technologies.

Considering the economics of the pharmaceutical industry, it isn’t surprising that companies are looking for ways to manage their costs – especially when they can improve the level of service at the same time.

Find out more: e-mail Jeff at jeff.weinert@ge.com

Jeff Weinert: “Scientific Asset Services is a total asset management approach”

What is…

Intellimotion?

Intellimotion is a system that tracks the location and maintenance status of assets within a facility using RFID (radio frequency identification). Intellimotion helps companies locate equipment that is portable or is frequently moved between labs. It allows companies to make better use of equipment they already own, and avoid needless expenditures.

Intellimotion also helps support the finance and regulatory functions. For example, capital equipment is often moved from one facility as needs change in laboratories. Information about changes to the location and cost centre doesn’t always make it back to finance until an audit reveals that a large capital item can’t be located. Intellimotion can automatically notify the appropriate cross-functional team that the item is being moved, improving controllership.

Also, proprietary lab notebooks and computers with critical intellectual property can be tagged to ensure that these items don’t leave the laboratory.

Controlled substances and hazardous materials can also be tagged to simplify the inventory process that must be completed to fulfil regulatory requirements. Intellimotion can make all of these things easier for our customers.

Bio InSite?

Bio InSite is a secure internet connection between GE Healthcare engineers and instrumentation with a computer interface. Bio InSite allows our on-site engineers to access specialists from all over the world, helping them quickly resolve issues beyond their scope of expertise. It gives our on-site team the support of a global workforce whenever they need help.

Original article published with Next Generation Pharmaceutical Europe.