Initial projects to improve digital collaboration often deployed bespoke point-to-point solutions between sponsor and contract organizations. However, without standardization, data, and data structures differ between sources, vary over time, and are difficult to use for the advanced needs of our industry.

This evolution beyond the single-source manufacturing model is driving an industry need for standardized approaches to data integration between organizations to support agile and predictive supply chains. But how do we achieve this? How do we bridge the gap?

Answering this question has led us to publish a Vision for digital maturity in the integration between biomanufacturers and partner organizations.

How to digitally collaborate

It explains the current state of integration models and the challenges faced by the industry – and contains our view on digital collaboration between sponsor and contract organizations.

We use the analogy the common integration between sponsors and contract organizations is like building a bridge – in the ideal world there is common traffic that goes both ways, they support many types of transfer, traffic can go fast or slow, they will fail if poorly designed, etc.

Our recommendations focus on four key areas where accurate and timely data exchange is fundamental to success for sponsor and contract organizations: quality, supply chain, manufacturing, and tech transfer. If you can improve your digital integration in these areas, it will support closer ways of working within your partnerships.

We include a simple maturity model that gives a high-level overview of increasingly sophisticated patterns of data and information exchange between organizations. This will help you perform a self-assessment and appropriate targeting of your future projects.

We also highlight the need for layers of alignment in contract relationships and identify the process touchpoints and data needs that are the foundations for digital integration designs.
The key next step for the industry is to align around the data structures within the communication messages.

Benefits

Using our paper in your digital integration discussions will bring you a host of benefits, such as

• It gives you clarity on the nature of the problem, a common language, and realistic, tangible, and aligned future possibilities
• It will help you articulate the benefits that will drive change from the perspective of each type of stakeholder
• You will have a clearer view of the scope and priority of business processes that are candidates for digital integration between organizations.

We think this paper is essential reading for business leaders in biomanufacturers and contract organizations, as well as digital leaders, integration solution providers, and IT solution providers providing operational and analytics systems.

Our industry must transform paper into data, records into actionable insights, and contracts into partnerships. The challenge is now laid down for everyone to work together to make this vision a reality.