Clone Database Solution
The Company
A major pharmaceutical company that has operations in the United States, France, Germany, Japan, and other countries.
The Business Problems
No systems existed for scientists to find out whether a clone in which they were interested was available in the company. They relied on Sequencing, Cloning and the Finishing Group (or Clone Management Group, in short) to find the answer. However, even though the Clone Management Group had access to some information, the needed information was stored in different locations (U.S. and Germany), in different formats, such as Microsoft Word, Excel, Access, and plain text files. There were no systematical and automated ways to find the answer regarding the existence of clones.
As a result, the Clone Management Group was burdened by manual management and retrieval of clone data. The lack of easy access to clone information became the bottleneck of the business process and created duplication of work. The long turnaround time for clone requests prevented the scientists from reaching their full productivity and efficiency, and hindered scientific research. Ultimately, it increased the time for the company to bring innovative drugs to market.
The Challenges
There was concurrent development of other initiatives within the company. These initiatives were in the early stages of scope definition and did not have concrete timelines. It was required that the system be delivered on time and integrated with systems produced by these initiatives.
The Approach
Chinasoft International took an iterative approach in which four rounds of preview versions were released to progressively elaborate the requirements. We used Object-Oriented design and analysis to ensure a flexible design that could be easily adapted to the changes and uncertainties of other initiatives.
The Solution
Chinasoft International implemented a centralized repository of clone data and a browser-based application to allow global access to the repository. The new system is also integrated with the company's Cloning Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS). This integration allows clone data produced in LIMS to be automatically registered in the repository in a controlled environment. In addition, Chinasoft International implemented an online Clone Request and Fulfillment subsystem that allows users to request the clones found in the system. The Clone Request and Fulfillment subsystem is integrated with the company's existing clone inventory system to provide end-to-end tracking of the ordering and fulfillment process. As part of the solution, the system's publishing services periodically export bioinformatics data in formats that are acceptable to other BLAST servers.
The Results
- Improved productivity. Scientists can find clone data without relying on the Clone Management Group. The Clone Management Group can now focus on sequencing, cloning, and finishing activities, instead of spending time searching for clone data.
- Elimination of duplication of work. A globally accessible system allows easy sharing of clone information among geographically dislocated sites, and greatly reduces the possibility of duplication of work.
- Better utilization of valuable information. The browser-based system allows easy access to information. The system's publishing services make valuable information available to other applications and reach a broader user base within the company.
- A scalable systems environment built on an enterprise-grade Database Management System that can satisfy the needs of a growing user base and user activities.
- Chinasoft International delivered the solution on time in 8 months. Our flexible design and iterative approach allowed the project team and solution to cope with changes.
For more information, please send inquiries to info@doublebridge.com.
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