Systech: Sound Advice on Serialization

As seen in Packaging Europe, May 4th, 2016

Systech is the global technology leader in anti-counterfeiting, product safety, consumer and brand protection. Systech pioneered serialization and is defining the future of authentication. Libby White spoke with Manfred Voglmaier, EMEA director at the successful Systech Uniquity 2016 Global Conference held in Amsterdam, April 6-7, about Systech’s strategic plans for further growth into Europe. He also stresses the importance of ensuring regulatory compliance, and the strong impact of the upcoming FMD regulations which will apply as of 9th February 2019.

Can you tell me about the purpose of the Systech Uniquity Conference?

The event is planned to bring together thought leaders, customers, partners, prospective customers and Systech experts. The purpose of the conference is to understand the needs of the industry, and to provide a perfect platform for exchanging knowledge.

Solutions, challenges, upcoming issues, regulations, and future needs are amongst the issues discussed. We can benefit from new insights gleaned from discussions, which will ultimately help us develop our next generation of software solutions to address the needs of the industry. I believe Uniquity is a great platform and we will continue to have this meeting in Europe on a regular basis, bringing together an international mix of attendees.

What is Systech’s presence in Europe?

Systech is a leading provider of serialisation solutions, with more than 1500 installations deployed in more than 40 countries. We work with 19 of the top 20 pharmaceutical companies.  A winning combination of domain knowledge, best practises and a concrete delivery methodology ensures Systech can provide the best solutions.

Over 40 per cent of our solutions can be found in Europe. We are focused on increasing our footprint in the EMEA further, and our Systech Uniquity Conference 2016 will help to make the European industry aware of our presence. We also attend other events in Europe such as the upcoming Pharmaceutical Packaging & Labelling Summit in June, in Geneva. We aim to invest more time and resources to inform and educate the European industry about the impending FMD regulations and how companies can implement solutions in this arena.

Today, we have around 50 employees serving Europe, 35 are part of our global services team of consultants from project managers, project engineers and field engineers to support our customers by delivering and maintaining solutions. We continue to increase our employees in Europe, and have established several partnerships in Europe such as with Inno4Life e Servicepoint. We are currently in discussions with 10-15 potential partners all over Europe, with the intention of becoming closer to our customers in as many countries as possible, and to be able to provide services and offer support in native languages.

Our European headquarters is situated in Brussels, with a state of the art demo centre designed to show customers our systems live in action. We also provide training classes at our Brussels offices. We are well established in northern Europe, in the UK, Ireland, Scandinavia and Benelux, but we are focusing on expansion into southern and Eastern Europe.

How do you address your customers’ needs on both a European and a global level to ensure regulatory compliance, whilst driving efficiency and profitability at the same time?

First of all, with our knowledge and experience, we help to educate our customers about regulatory compliance. A big challenge for the industry right now is the European Falsified Medicines Directive which has an imminent deadline in 2019. We can provide consultations, explain the requirements and needs, and recommend solutions based on our experiences.

We have a strong team monitoring activities and regulations with regards to serialization, authentication and track-and-trace, and we have an understanding across the board of countries: the US, China, Korea, Brazil, and Europe.

Due to our best practices, we can understand the capacity and projects of our customers, and implement a plan accordingly to ensure minimum downtime. We can provide an overall solution of software, hardware, and services.

I am surprised that many companies in the industry are still quite relaxed about the impact and implications of the European FMD. I believe they underestimate the effort needed in terms of time, resources and budget to ensure compliance. I recommend companies start putting the wheels in motion straight away. It’s very clear that if they do not fulfil the requirements they will not be allowed to operate.

Can you tell me about your latest solutions in serialization and authentication, and the latest demands from the industry?

I would like to emphasise that we are the only vendor who provides solutions from level one to five. We cover all the needs for serialisation through our UniSeries solution. In terms of track-and-trace, our UniTrace offering works on an enterprise scale. UniSecure is a proven authentication technology helping to future proof supply chains, with the ability to also provide customer engagement applications.

The industry is changing, and the way end customers and patients buy medicines will advance. For example, with the advent of online shopping, this cuts out direct contact with a pharmacist. This is a big change, and the pharmaceutical industry needs the ability to build direct channels with end users and patients.

Serialization will excel this customer engagement process and a good example is with electronic leaflets. The pharma industry has the huge requirement of managing languages across countries to ensure the customer understands the product. With UniSecure, the end user can choose their language and download the leaflet in their language. Another issue is adherence, people forget or stop taking their medicine, and an application can be offered with a medication plan where for example they receive a reminder on their phone to take their medicine.

What challenges do you face as a global technology leader in providing product safety, and consumer and brand protection?

Globally, the biggest challenge is the diversity of regulations from one country to the next, and that they are an ongoing process that will change over time. We can really provide the expertise to ensure all upcoming and ongoing changes can be adapted to by our customers. Companies will have an existing environment in terms of packaging lines, data management systems etc. We can provide seamless integration and help to standardise and harmonise processes.

Since the new FMD has been announced its very clear serialisation has a big part to play in ensuring compliance. All the manufacturers in the life sciences sector will face a big challenge to get solutions in place and keep their supply chain flexible enough to adapt to new regulations. This is a complex issue, and I really recommend companies to initiate a plan of action, identify their needs, and ensure they have the right support for implementing solutions.

One of Systech’s core strengths is that we understand the importance of software platforms, which leads to better analysis of processes. This leads to overall improvement of supply chains, efficiency, and areas such as logistics, whilst providing brand protection, customer engagement applications and regulatory compliance.

For more information, visit www.systechone.com