Digitalizing External Manufacturing Relationships: Insights from Marjorie LAUE SOULE of Synerlab Group

Hello, I am Marjorie Laue. I’ve been working at Synerlab Group for five years. We are a European leader in pharmaceutical contract manufacturing in France and Spain. We work with a wide range of suppliers of exceptional active ingredients, and primary and secondary packaging. We ship our products within France and to other countries such as Russia and Japan.

I think it is important to digitalize all formal processes, especially serialization. That’s where we had our first contact with TraceLink. It enables constant, clear, and transparent data exchange not only with our suppliers, but also with our clients. So, it is basically our goal to digitalize as much as possible. By digitalizing, we can have access to the KPIs to track the numbers and progress of the company.

One of the main challenges that we faced and are still facing is the evolution of regulations, such as regulations on falsified medications. Regulations are always evolving and we need to stay consistent with these evolving regulations. Another challenge is keeping up with different regulations of each country that we work with because each of them has its own regulations and we need to stay aligned with each one.

I think agility and flexibility are key points in any client relationship you have like pharmaceutical manufacturers, and as a matter of fact, working with a platform like TraceLink gives us flexibility, especially as it evolves with the changing regulations. It provides transparency of data and constant data exchange with our manufacturers, suppliers, and clients. Working with such a platform allows us to maintain this link and transparency with our clients.

Our experience with the TraceLink team has been excellent. The team is competent and supportive in every way. Working on serialization is very technical as it involves constant data exchange, especially since we typically handle critical data. That's why we need support whenever we run into blocking issues and TraceLink continues to be helpful in that aspect.

I think digitalization is undoubtedly necessary. It is the future, and it is what awaits us. However, it also comes with its own challenges. It requires significant investment and is extremely time-consuming. It also requires larger teams to work on it. On the other hand, it allows for data exchange and transparency. My advice would be to digitalize a maximum number of processes according to the available resources at hand.

I think in this situation, the most important factor is the relationship with the client. Strong relationships with the client, transparency, and flexibility: I think they are the main key points to maintain a strong bond with the client.