Diagnostic Products Support System Implementation

Client Project

A major global pharmaceutical organization engaged PPI to assist with implementation of a major IT system supporting medical diagnostic products as part of a multiyear, multimillion-dollar initiative involving users and facilities in nine different countries.

Project Goals and Areas of Focus

Goals of the project included:

• Increase the organization's competitive edge in a marketplace that increasingly demands higher reliability and greater ease of use from medical diagnostic systems
  
  
• Boost sales by filling a key market niche and differentiating the product with a unique user interface that invites use
  
  
• Reduce service costs via proactive service and improved handling of customer problems
  
  
• Maintain high customer satisfaction through improved usability, increased level of user training, and significant increases in ease of instrument maintenance and repair
  
  
• Improve user satisfaction by decreasing training time and increasing operator productivity and efficiency.
  
  
• Lower support costs by providing users with online guidance that will prevent unnecessary service calls; decreasing the size of the documentation required to support the system; and streamlining the delivery of current information to users and Bayer's service personnel.

To support this initiative PPI worked with the organization in a multi-phase approach over two years. During this time PPI:

• Assessed processes and user needs in detail at multiple client-designated facilities
  
  
• Compared activities and business needs across multiple locations to determine key functional requirements for the new system
  
  
• Developed detailed business requirements to support essential activities and data handling by users in all locations
  
  
• Documented functional specifications for key system modules that quantified the depth, breadth and detail of the modules and included preliminary identification of elements to be developed
  
  
• Developed user documentation and online help support for stable system elements and newly implemented modules and establishing a plan for ongoing enhancements, revisions and maintenance as additional modules were implemented

This successful system implementation:

• Supported achievement of sales growth targets for associated medical diagnostic products
  
  
• Increased customer productivity and satisfaction
  
  
• Simplified core tasks and increased task efficiency
  
  
• Lowered costs of user support
  
  
• Streamlined information delivery to customers
  
  
• Reduced training costs and increased training effectiveness
  
  
• Created seamless integration of operations with help and support to improve overall quality and operational effectiveness
  
  
• Enabled flexible access to critical operation, maintenance troubleshooting and repair information
  
  
• Supported standardization and increased consistency of core tasks across multiple global locations