Building a next-gen Quality Management System for the pharmaceutical industry
QFacts is a SaaS start-up that emerged from the vision of Farma Consulting & Partners' leadership team. Their goal was to develop a tailored Quality Management System, specifically for the SME segment within the European pharmaceutical industry. We stepped in as their product development partner, providing strategic guidance and technical execution to bring their vision to life.
Challenge
Given the pharmaceutical industry is stringently regulated, building software in this area required rapid mastery of the complex subject matter and regulatory landscape. Our team got up to speed quickly and established an ambitious development timeline to build a high-quality MVP and validate it with target users.
Solution
Within a focused two-month period, our team refined the product's details, delivering interactive prototypes for all user roles (e.g., action owner, QA, etc.) and a robust technical architecture with essential security measures. Following this focused definition phase, our development team successfully launched the platform's initial release within six months.
Approach
Due to the project's complex user needs and regulations, a phased approach was critical for success. We started wireframing the user requirements, and validated and iterated continuously with user feedback to ensure an efficient development process further down the line. This strategy allowed us to deliver a fully functioning platform in a rapid timeframe.
Olivier Vanoppen
Founder & managing director
"Quality Management Systems are critical in a pharmaceutical setting, yet we've been observing for many years that companies struggle with the practical implementation. We believe there are multiple reasons for this: there's a behavioral change, a technology change and a strict regulatory framework to operate within. We found the perfect partner in Panenco to grasp these challenges and build our custom QMS from the ground up."
From concept to production in only 6 months
Product definition: Prior to our collaboration, the QFacts team had compiled an extensive 80-page document outlining functional requirements, user flows, and regulatory guidelines. We opted to translate this into interactive Figma prototypes, enabling functional validation with the target user base. Simultaneously, we designed a robust technical architecture, prioritizing stringent security standards.
Product development:
We assembled a dedicated team, comprising a product manager, software engineers, and a fractional designer, to develop a custom application using modern web technologies: Node.js, Express, React, and TypeScript, hosted on Google Cloud Platform. Our fully automated testing framework ensures high-quality, continuous releases, while tools like Sentry empower our engineers to proactively identify and resolve technical issues.
Continuous releasing:
As QFacts prepares for its public launch, we're implementing tools and processes to ensure a seamless user experience. We're establishing a comprehensive customer success model to actively gather and respond to user feedback. We've also put technical procedures in place for rapid issue resolution, adhering to QFacts' internal quality policies and guidelines.
"We're incredibly proud of this journey together with the QFacts team and particularly grateful for the enormous trust they placed on us. There's nothing more motivating than a strong team with a clear vision and a healthy sense of urgency!"
Johan Haest
Engineering manager