In the early 2000's, an industry leader in high-quality plasma collection, used for life-saving plasma-based therapies, sought a partner organization that could provide facility services via one central contact point.
To help this company adhere to strict FDA compliance requirements, the selected partner organization would need to demonstrate the ability to service low-temperature spaces nationwide within two hours. At the time, the plasma company had over 30 locations nationwide.
The plasma collection company needed the partner organization to support its aggressive expansion plans. This would mean repeatedly scaling up to design and retrofitting locations, equipping them with refrigerated anterooms and sub-zero -30°C low-temperature freezer units for plasma storage. The organization also would need to provide first-class solutions aligning with the high-quality services that the company features in its centers.
The plasma collection company had previously worked with FARRARTM, a brand of Trane Technologies, on design-build work for some of its initial plasma donation centers. Pleased with the custom, robust solutions FARRAR had provided, company leadership wanted to expand the relationship and selected FARRAR as its partner for the effort.
Steady Growth Management
FARRAR started by forming an internal team focused on supporting the plasma company in building out new donation centers.
In less than 10 years, the team helped the customer design and equip multiple plasma centers annually. During this period, the combined team grew the number of plasma donation centers by 50 percent nationwide. For each center, the team designed, built, and installed one fully redundant blast freezer system, kept at less than -35°C for plasma storage, and one refrigerated anteroom, kept at less than 50 percent humidity. The anteroom provides a transition between plasma collection and storage.
Enhanced Capabilities Support Growth
With over 100 centers nationwide, the plasma collection customer decided to expand more aggressively based on its success to date and in response to market changes favoring continued growth. They desired a more accelerated pace, with plans to grow 20 percent in a single year.
To help our customer balance their explosive growth, we quickly responded with FARRAR enabled donation centers with freezers featuring remote monitoring capabilities to support their blood plasma management operations.
Until that time, manual evaluation of the plasma itself was required to ensure proper storage. Tracking freezer performance 24/7 through remote monitoring would help to ensure adherence to FDA guidelines.
Remote monitoring tracks and records freezer mechanical operational data, including glycerin temperature, compressor performance, and variable frequency drive performance. FARRARTM engineers review system data for anomalies, informing the plasma collection company if the current operation presents any risk concerns, including potential product loss. Beyond ensuring the right storage environment, remote monitoring enables early troubleshooting that helps avoid system downtime.
In addition to monitoring capabilities, FARRAR also broadened its dedicated team to help the plasma collection leader meet its targeted expansion goals. The project team equipped numerous centers annually over several years, including almost 50 centers in one year alone. The enhanced team included dedicated sub teams focused on specific areas at each new center, such as engineering resources, project management, technical services, and remote services.
FARRAR proved to be the "just right" partner organization that this leader in plasma donation relied on for their critical freezer and anteroom needs. Thanks to their successful and collaborative effort, FARRAR and their customer successfully met aggressive expansion plans while enhancing their plasma storage processes.
FARRAR, unique in its ability to provide unmatched, coast-to-coast support for life sciences refrigeration, provides end-to-end ongoing service and solutions. This collaborative effort has helped the customer expand well over 100 percent. Aligning with FARRAR, this plasma collection company has grown from over 30 locations nationwide to hundreds of locations spanning the country.
FARRAR provides 24-hour monitoring for every new and retrofitted collection center in the United States, enabling a quick-turn when service is needed and reducing risk for the customer. Remote monitoring helps to ensure that systems keep running at optimal performance, day in and day out.