EPM: Tell us about the company's involvement in cleanrooms - background and expertise.
PJ: Pharma Hygiene Products’ (PHP) heritage boasts 10 years experience working in the pharmaceutical industry installing and maintaining process equipment all over the world. As mechanical maintenance engineers, we have worked with some of the industry’s leading companies such as GSK, Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Boots and Sanofi. Many of these currently use our products, as do the NHS, Fuji Film, and Actavis.
EPM: How important is the service you offer in terms of meeting the needs of a cleanroom environment?
PJ: PHP understands the exacting standards and importance of GMP compliance in drug manufacture. Having experience working alongside pharmaceutical production engineers, PHP also appreciates the importance of process continuity and the costs associated with losing control over it. This is why we have brought together a range of quality products specifically for pharmaceutical manufacturing.
All our products are manufactured from FDA-approved materials, to GMP compliant designs and appropriately certified to provide the highest levels of hygiene and reliability.
EPM: What are the main challenges you face servicing the cleanroom sector and how do you overcome these?
PJ: One of the main issues we face are long lead times, Examples are delays in supply of 6-12 weeks or waiting for large orders to be produced by our suppliers. We are addressing this in a number of ways including a recent move into new premises and increasing our own stock levels of high demand products.
We are also working with DHL to offer next day delivery in the UK and around the world. Where there is a shrinking availability of products (products being discontinued by suppliers) but demand is still high, we are currently developing our manufacturing capabilities to produce similar products unique to us.
EPM: What is your latest offering for cleanrooms?
PJ: Our growing product range demonstrates the company’s commitment to providing a single source of supply for drug manufacturers. Recently added products include open top drums and hygienic butterfly valves and represent the company’s introduction of powder handling products.
We also offer a range of ancillary products including, clamps, lids, seals, and drum skids (to aid transportation), along with custom made discharge cones. We also offer a drum refurbishment service.
EPM: What is the company's USP?
PJ: PHP provides confidence and reliability to pharmaceutical manufacturing companies by offering certified quality products, which meets the needs of drug manufacturers and helps to make production processes run effectively and efficiently.
As a specialist supplier, we have a knowledgeable team that offers a fast, reliable service, bespoke advice and a constantly expanding product range. We also like to think that we do things differently by making it easy to source certified products and bespoke solutions with great customer care.
Another thing we do is try and make the sourcing of cleanroom supplies dependable reliable and straightforward.
I guess if I were to sum up what sets us apart it would be reliability, operational excellence and industry knowledge. I would also add to that product flexibility - we offer modification and tailoring of products to suit customers needs - excellent customer service and quick response times.
EPM: Where do you see cleanroom developments taking place over the coming years?
PJ: Over recent months we have seen increasing requests for product modifications and bespoke solutions. Coming out of the recession, we see this trend continuing as the pharmaceutical industry increase productivity and innovation once more.
We are also experiencing a growth in exports to international companies wishing to buy from Britain due to our regulations and high quality standards. Companies trust British-sourced products and customers have commented that having tried cheaper products from developing countries they have found them to be inferior and unreliable, proving more costly in the long run.
EPM: Any plans for the future?
PJ: We have a mobile phone app in development that will be available very soon. In addition to the obvious advantages offered with mobile devices, the app will feature a product gallery and news and events.
We are also looking at developing our website to include full e-commerce functionality - with most product prices available to credit account customers. Our range of laboratory products will be increased to include consumables and disposables and cleanroom garments.
Long-term plans include providing distribution hubs in the USA, Australia and Malaysia.