2006 November

MANUFACTURING'S MIRACLE DRUG
Pharmaceutical Innovation Helps Manufacturing Construction Rebound from Economic Slump

By Lauren Pinch

The following excerpt from Construction Executive may be viewed online at www.abc.org or with photographs in .pdf format.

....PROVIDING PHARMACEUTICAL-SPECIFIC TRAINING

DECCO, Inc., Brookline, N.H., a major player in New England's pharmaceutical manufacturing market, agrees specialized training is key to success.

The firm constructs and designs process and plumbing systems for the industrial utility and power, microelectronics, ultra-pure manufacturing, food and beverage, chemical and process, biopharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. Pharmaceutical projects bring in $20 million to $30 million each year for the employee-owned company.

The company operates a separate profit center called DPS, a custom-manufacturer of modules, skidded systems and pre-fabricated assemblies capable of being validated to FDA standards and their GAMP (Good Automated Manufacturing Protocols) for biotechnology manufacturing facilities.

Its clients include Biogen Idec, Cambridge, Mass., and Genzyme, Framingham, Mass.

Roy Greenwald, president of DECCO, believes contracting with these companies requires extreme dedication to quality control and retaining a highly experienced staff-from engineers and project managers down to each craftsman and laborer.

Greenwald, who has a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering, took over the company in 1984 and led its growth in the rapidly evolving pharmaceuticals market.

"We've tried to swim upstream into the sophisticated industries," he says. "When biopharmaceutical moved into New England, we saw [the industry] required specialized training, standardized operating procedures, computerized welding and the most advanced technology."

Because this industry demands such specialized skills, DECCO conducts an extensive, high-tech training program that goes above and beyond the federally approved apprenticeship program. Currently, DECCO is training about 25 apprentices. In addition, its corporate university, DENS University, offers continuing training on standard operating procedures for all employee partners.

DECCO also holds a phenomenal safety record due to its rigorous jobsite safety program. The company received six consecutive Platinum Safety, Training and Evaluation Program (STEP) awards from Associated Builders and Contractors' Massachusetts Chapter for its low Occupational Safety and Health Adminstration recordables and zero fatality rate.

These accomplishments have helped DECCO win challenging contracts, such as a sophisticated $5 million lockout/tagout job for Wyeth BioPharma, a developer of recombinant protein biopharmaceuticals and product brands including Advil, Centrum, Dimetapp and Effexor.

The project did not slide from its schedule, and DECCO completed work exactly on the due date. "That almost never happens in this business," Greenwald says.

In addition to standard operating procedures, QA/QC and safety programs, being successful on a pharmaceutical manufacturing job also requires having an equipment infrastructure in place.

"This work requires a very large capital investment by the contractor, such as expensive welding machines and piping prep machines," Greenwald says.

For a younger construction company, this can be a deterrent. Another deterrent to tackling a complex manufacturing project is the challenge of finding and training qualified workers.