Despite the extensive research and development effort and testing undertaken by the chemical and pharmaceutical industry to ensure product safety, it is virtually impossible to guarantee that a product will be free from adverse side-effects in every conceivable situation. Here, companies are often faced with a conflict between aiming for cost efficiency on the one hand and guaranteeing product safety by means of extensive and costly controls on the other.
This conflict of goals makes the already complicated range of tasks in this area even more difficult, and in the worst case can result in the incidence of harmful side-effects. If such problems are discovered, the result may be very costly, in terms of controversy and recall campaigns damaging to the corporate image. The industry thus has a common interest in rapidly identifying the injurious side-effects or negative influence that products may have on the consumer or the environment.
This calls for the continuous monitoring of product effects, including facilities for providing the consumer with relevant feedback. In the event of a problem occurring, companies must be in a position to pinpoint the source of the problem immediately. Furthermore, they must be able to prove that they have taken all necessary steps, for instance during the development of a drug, to guarantee compliance with statutory requirements.
The solutionSiemens Enterprise Communications’ multimedia OpenScape Contact Center Solutions and the OpenScape Unified Communication Suite support the chemical and pharmaceutical sector in gathering information about product incompatibilities. In the event of problems, it is thus possible to organize a rapid and coordinated response, and prepare urgent advice for consumers:
- Collation of information about unwelcome effects, plus customer advice and support via the Contact Center
- Coordination of cross-functional responses to incidents or adverse effects, using OpenScape
