Nine companies have been given a tour of the new facility by business development staff so far. Almac has also hosted three of five ‘audit open houses’, which customers are free to attend.
‘Almac is very proud of its new facility and hopes that clients can appreciate the added benefits it provides to them,’ said Mark Rohlfing, director of quality.
The warehouse and cold store spaces, for example, offer a 4 to 5-fold increase in capacity.
The flow of materials and personnel was a key component in deciding the specific location of each internal department in the new headquarters and Almac says the layout allows a smoother transition of materials throughout the supply chain.
The high level of design on the primary production floor includes cleanroom panels, flush mounted windows, and airlocks with air pressure gradients. Employee workstations make maximum use of natural daylight and many have a view of the surrounding farmland.
Auditing groups have been able to review facility and equipment qualification documents with staff. They have also reviewed SOPs, environmental monitoring protocols, and plans for relocating operations.
Almac has unified its clinical services and clinical technologies units under one roof in the new building, as well as introducing its Sciences unit in the US.
Analytical and solid state services will be provided in 2,925ft2 of laboratory space located on the second floor of building two where there is a write-up area for 20 analysts. ICH compliant stability rooms are available to support the analytical requirements.
Almac is currently scheduling tours for the remainder of 2010 and into 2011.
Anyone interested in scheduling a tour should contact their local Almac representative or visit the headquarters website and click on the ‘request a tour’ button.
Staff in the US will relocate to the premises during the autumn, with the official opening planned for late Spring 2011.
