Closing the gap between production floor and ERP system for Pacific Hospital Supply Co., Ltd.
Taiwanese-based company Pacific Hospital Supply Co., Ltd. (PAHSCO) had the need to implement a “Computer Software Validation” process, feeding production line data automatically into their ERP system. With Beijer Electronics’ IIoT solution their system now runs with fully validated data and real-time monitoring without changing any existing processes. With the new solution in place, the compilation of shipping documentation is reduced from one week to less than a day, enabling the company to fully comply with international regulations.
Reliable industry 4.0 solution needed
Pacific Hospital Supply Co., Ltd (PAHSCO) is an industry leader of disposable medical supplies and equipment. The company boasts an impressive 700+ products line up, supplying more than 80 countries and regions worldwide with numerous international certifications includes ISO 13485, ISO 9001, European CE Mark, US FDA, UL and Taiwan’s GMP.
To comply with ISO 13485 revised in 2016, PAHSCO’s quality management system must keep records of sterilization process parameters for every sterilization batch traceable down to each production batch. PAHSCO’s IT department was put in charge of the project together with their quality and production teams to ensure that all sterilization data is automatically recorded and transferred into the company’s ERP system, traceable at any time. Pammy Hsaio, Assistant Manager of PAHSCO’s IT department says, “None of our existing service providers had a fulfilling solution. They all feature proprietary formats leaving much manually data handling to be done.”
From proof of concept to proof of value
PAHSCO’s IT department was introduced to Beijer Electronics IIoT solution with an X2 operator panel acting as edge gateway at an Industry 4.0 seminar. Fujen Ho, Business development manager at Beijer Electronics explains “The benefit of our build to fit system is the real-time data transfer and validation, requiring only small system resources. It’s fully compatible with PAHSCO’s current setup and we didn’t need to change any of their current processes.”
Mrs. Hsaio adds “We were especially impressed with Beijer’s web tool interface, which allowed our Quality team to review the sterilization results in real time right after the manufacturing process. Before it would take 30 minutes to make the data transfer, which meant a several days lag for the data to be fully collected from all production lines, adding up to a full week for the entire production inspection to be completed. With the new Beijer Electronics IIoT solution in place, it takes less than a day for the shipping documents to be compiled.” Mrs. Hsaio continues “The solution not only meets the ISO 13485:2016 requirements, it also improves our workflow, shortens inspection time and even enhances our productivity, which came as a pleasant surprise to all of us.”
A high level of commitment
During implementation, Beijer Electronics team not only worked with PAHSCO’s IT department, but also handled cross-department communications, to ensure that the solution was implemented thoroughly.
Mrs. Hsaio says “On top of the powerful iX software solution, Beijer’s dedication in communicating with different departments, contributed greatly to the success of the project. We are very pleased with this level of commitment and service.” Mr. Ho is pleased with the installation: “Since the initial project, PAHSCO has asked our team to continually work with them to automate their workflow further with Beijer Electronics solutions.” Mrs. Hsaio is equally pleased with the collaboration and says: “We were thrilled to find a perfect solution that not only handles data but also helps maintain the production system and improves our performance. We are so happy with the solution and service, that we are expanding our collaboration with Beijer Electronics and can recommend them to anyone looking for a strong data validation solution.”
