Integrated Facility Services offer comprehensive building maintenance solutions. Read here to see how the model performs in the pharmaceutical sector.
The Ticino branch of the international group Soho Flordis International (SFI) - a manufacturer and supplier of natural medicines - is pursuing a growth-oriented business strategy. A consistent focus on its core business and the outsourcing of non-pharmaceutical tasks are helping to pave the way for the implementation of this strategy.
In 2019, the outsourcing of support services at the pharmaceutical facility in Ticino became a reality. Following extensive corporate restructuring aimed at enabling the group to grow further, SFI decided to concentrate its own resources on core business processes. The outsourcing of non-pharmaceutical activities - which was initially just one of several options - has now been successfully implemented at the Bioggio site for two years.
Efficiency and Cost Optimization: ComprehensiveService Package
SFI entrusts ISS employees - about ten in number - with performing cleaning and disinfection tasks, infrastructure and technical building maintenance (including ventilation, air conditioning, and heating systems), landscaping, building maintenance, and evening inspection rounds. ISS offers its client a comprehensive service package, managed by a single point of contact who knows what needs to be done to resolve issues but also proactively makes suggestions to streamline services. For SFI, this solution also represents a positive development in terms of cost optimization, as Andrea Bernasconi, EHS & Operational Services Officer at SFI in Bioggio, confirms: “Our partnership with ISS has given us access to a broad network of suppliers, which allows us, for example, to purchase replacement parts at lower prices than before.”
ISS technicians maintain and monitor the technical equipment, ensuring the smooth operation of laboratories and production facilities.
Basic Training in GMP: Qualified Personnel
In any partnership, it is the employees who make the difference. This is especially true in the pharmaceutical sector, with its strict hygiene requirements. Everyone who enters the Bioggio facility must adhere to clearly defined rules. This also applies to ISS employees entrusted with specific tasks. For example, cleaning staff undergo basic training in GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice), where they learn behavioral guidelines, how to perform their duties, dress codes, and safety measures.
Added to this is the way ISS approaches its partnership with the client. Massimiliano Musso, ISS Facility Services Manager, emphasizes: “This is one of our strengths: We act as equal partners, contribute ideas, and ensure the client’s business operations run smoothly.” This approach has also proven highly effective during the pandemic: ISS ensured business continuity and offered new services to meet the increased demands for hygiene and cleanliness, as well as providing qualified replacement staff when ISS employees were unavailable.
At a Glance: SFI
Soho Flordis International is an Australian-registered company that manufactures and distributes clinically tested natural medicines (both its own and third-party products) in over 50 countries; it has global sales offices and three production facilities: Bioggio (Switzerland), Wigan (United Kingdom), and Reno (USA). The Bioggio facility is the largest, with over 150 employees working in production, packaging, the laboratory, research and development, regulatory affairs, and administration.