The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated digital transformation on an unprecedented scale. Around the world, businesses have been forced to embrace new ways of working and the digital technologies that enable them.
Product compliance functions in highly regulated industries such as consumer goods and chemicals have not been immune from the impact. Many companies have leveraged this new-found momentum for change to move towards a more streamlined and efficient digital operating model for global product compliance. Their goal is to enable and empower product compliance functions to take on a role as a strategic business enabler, while also reducing operating costs over the long-term.
Informed through extensive experience with regulatory authorities, compliance experts and our customers, Veeva has identified three value drivers that leaders should focus on when advancing digital transformation in risk and compliance.
1. Ensure quality and consistency of compliance solutions
Global product compliance teams face the challenge of managing large volumes of requests from customers for compliance related data. Failure to respond to these requests with accurate information can erode trust or even result in a non-compliance event that results in loss of business. One large specialty chemical company measured the potential loss of revenue from providing customers with inaccurate data at $100 million per year. This is not uncommon, as 78% of compliance leaders report experiencing compliance errors that cost their business money.1 By adopting a unified global product compliance system, the overall quality of data and content will increase while also greatly improving transparency, accountability, and customer experience.
2. Reduction of complexity and costs
The scope of work expected from product compliance teams continues to grow. In a recent survey of compliance professionals in the chemical and consumer goods industry, 91% of respondents reported that their management expects them to do more with less resources.2 This burden is further exacerbated by the manual processes and outdated IT tools that characterize most product compliance systems. Companies have reported that 30% to 50% of a compliance team member’s time can be spent looking for information.3
Simplifying, automating, and digitizing core processes on a single platform helps increase workforce capacity and the bottom line by reducing the amount of time that skilled professionals spend on non-value adding tasks. Technology-powered compliance also enables the function to become more proactive and predictive, enabling data driven decisions that avoid future costs.
3. Ability to operate with speed and agility
Product compliance functions are often perceived by the business as cost centers that slow time to market and choke innovation. This is despite the fact that some of the biggest causes of compliance delays are suppliers (43%), external business partners (39%), and internal stakeholders (38%).4
Transitioning to a digital compliance operating model can shift this perception by enabling greater transparency, agility and collaboration across the value chain. In a digital compliance environment, internal stakeholders from R&D, marketing and sales can access the compliance data they require on-demand, without having to wait for a response from the compliance function. Similarly, external requests for product compliance information can be handled by automated routing ensuring that the right professional can provide input in a timely manner. These improvements result in greater organizational scalability and speed to market.
Getting started with digital compliance
Focusing on quality, cost reduction, and speed as key value drivers for transforming to a digital operating model will create a product compliance function that unlocks business potential and delivers effective, efficient and smarter compliance solutions across the organization. Learn more about Veeva’s solutions for regulatory requests management, composition compliance transparency and end-to-end product compliance, or contact us to talk to an expert and discuss your most urgent challenges and possible quick wins.
About the Author
David Maher leads Veeva’s compliance strategy practice in Europe. He partners with customers to help them develop future ready digital operating models that transform product compliance into a competitive edge.
Before joining Veeva, David worked at Novozymes Global Regulatory Affairs where he was in charge of digitization strategy. He also worked as a management consultant at Deloitte where he specialized in large-scale organization transformations.
David holds an MSc International Business and Politics from Copenhagen Business School where his research focused on the role of professional networks in regulatory lobbying.
1 https://www.industries.veeva.com/regulatory-trends-report-2021
2 https://www.industries.veeva.com/regulatory-trends-report-2021
3 https://www.industries.veeva.com/hubfs/us-lshc-growing-regulatory-strategic-value.pdf
4 https://www.industries.veeva.com/regulatory-trends-report-2021
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