Qualiphar: How the right Quality Management System improves company-wide collaboration and opens minds

About QUALIPHAR

Qualiphar is a Belgian-based pharmaceutical company with a production and distribution side. Starting with raw materials and packaging materials, they end up with a finished product that they distribute to pharmacies throughout Belgium and Luxembourg, and to other countries through partners.  

As Quality Improvement Manager at Qualiphar, Jeroen Creytens has a lot of responsibility. He leads one team responsible for software, equipment, cleaning, and process validation. He has a second team responsible for document management, CAPA management, training, and audits. And a third team responsible for distribution and GDP.

Our Customer Success Manager, Trine Michelsen caught up with Jeroen for a video chat, so that she could find out how Scilife has helped Qualiphar to improve quality and instill company-wide collaboration and open minds...

The Search

Two years ago, Qualiphar was at a point where they needed to change their Quality Management System. The support for their old QMS was being shut down, it wasn't GMP-proof anymore and it wasn't compliant anymore with current guidelines.

With the old QMS, it wasn't even compulsory to have due dates and everyone could change any dates that were entered, if they wanted to. 

'As a pharmaceutical company with GMP and GDP certificates, we really needed a validated system that is GMP proof, has an audit trail, and a fixed flow.'

Jeroen Creytens, Quality Improvement Manager at Qualiphar

So Qualiphar turned to Scilife...

The Set up

It took Jeroen just one month to have Scilife up and running as a new QMS for Qualiphar. As he pointed out, validation was really important:

'It's easy to change from one system to another if you don't need to validate.'

Jeroen Creytens, Quality Improvement Manager at Qualiphar

After consulting with Scilife, Jeroen and his team started with CAPAs, Change Control, and Events. With his experience of working within QA, Jeroen found the Scilife platform easy to use. It was important for him that people who didn't work in QA also understood what to do quickly. What he really liked is that Scilife has a simple workflow with a nice overview. In his own words: 

'It isn't a difficult software system... and the demos were a nice touch. The onboarding was really useful and made it easier for colleagues.'

Jeroen Creytens, Quality Improvement Manager at Qualiphar

With Scilife successfully set up and running smoothly, Jeroen's teams moved on to Document Control and Training Management. And it wasn't only QA who was involved...

Favorite Features

In the previous QMS that Qualiphar used, there were simple things missing, like no due dates. And this needed fixing. Qualiphar also needed to be flexible, with a QMS that fit their budget. Even more importantly, they needed a change of mindset.

Now, other departments are more actively involved with QA-related topics since their input and collaboration are needed, which helps create more awareness of the importance of Quality Culture throughout the organization. 

As a Quality Manager, Jeroen has several features he likes about Scilife. Being able to set due dates is important for him. And the simple dashboard makes for a user-friendly platform.

But for Jeroen, the best thing about the switch to Scilife is that it raised awareness and cooperation between departments:

'In the past, people were not really aware of what was needed for QA or GMP.  But now with Scilife, it has opened their minds.'

Jeroen Creytens, Quality Improvement Manager at Qualiphar

It also means that everyone across the company has to take more responsibility and can't just ask QA to do things for them anymore! 

And as everyone at Qualiphar gets more involved in improving quality, Scilife is there to support:

'After onboarding, we had a weekly follow-up that was really useful. Whenever we have a question, you answer it quickly. Or if we have a problem, you try to solve it.'

Jeroen Creytens, Quality Improvement Manager at Qualiphar

So, with Jeroen and his teams using Scilife on a daily basis, would he recommend it to other Life Science companies?

Expert Advice

In Jeroen's experience, when selecting a new QMS, it needs to be validated and to have an easy workflow. 

When you export data from an old system, it takes time, and you need to ensure it is tested. Like Scilife, the new system needs to be GMP-proof, to be user-friendly, and provide continuous support.

The Results

For Jeroen, using Scilife didn't only ensure Qualiphar was compliant with guidelines, it helped change the whole company's mindset about quality.

'I think this shows that we are very happy and want to continue working with Scilife.'

Jeroen Creytens, Quality Improvement Manager at Qualiphar

With Qualiphar quality-happy, that's another Scilife Success Story!

Do you want to change the quality mindset in your organization? Then Scilife is here to support to you.