Altkirch, a strategic site for the Daiichi Sankyo group.
One of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies, the Japanese group Daiichi Sankyo, with 120 years of expertise and a presence in 30 countries, has made its Altkirch site in the Grand Est region, an industrial pillar of its global strategy.
With 70 employees and the manufacture of two active ingredients for veterinary and human use, the French site is now the only one in the world to produce these key molecules. To achieve this, the site will have to double its production capacity by 2030.
The outlook is clear. It is against this backdrop that Xavier Petitjean takes over as industrial director in 2024 and initiates a profound transformation, both technical and managerial, as well as cultural, structuring his organization around CARL Source CMMS, a strategic tool that he intends to exploit to the fullest to unite his teams and strive for operational excellence.
An ambitious industrial and human transformation
With an investment of $20 million, a new high-performance production building and state-of-the-art equipment, the Altkirch site is embarking on a strategic ramp-up, supported by a complete reorganization of its processes and new management.
For Xavier Petitjean, team buy-in is the key to success. Upon his arrival, he made workplace well-being a top priority, launched a social audit, and fostered a more human approach to management. The transformation is based on a gradual evolution of the corporate culture, creating a climate of trust conducive to collective commitment.
From silo logic to an integrated, agile organization
Until 2024, the site’s operational departments operated in silos, with no real communication between production and maintenance, in a climate of tension accentuated by the rapid growth in the workforce. It became urgent to rethink the organization to restore stability and efficiency.
Starting in 2025, a new dynamic will be launched: teams will be integrated, methods shared, and roles clarified, with a clear ambition: to promote collaboration and skills development around three structural pillars, based no longer on professions but on shared time horizons.
- Pillar 1: short term
This entity includes production, the production warehouse, and six maintenance agents, one of whom handles urgent repairs and the other five handle preventive maintenance. - Pillar 2: the medium term
This pillar brings together the methods departments and technical experts to organize procedures, resources, obsolescence management, and improvement. It manages the stock and the maintenance parts warehouse, which must be available at all times for pillar 1. Maintenance is provided on request. - Pillar 3: the long term
Here, the project department organizes strategic projects, including site decarbonization, with maintenance involvement on request.
This new organization, which brings together production and maintenance within a single entity, promotes the alignment of objectives and strengthens inter-departmental cooperation.
The creation of production/maintenance pairs enables a better understanding of mutual issues: on the one hand, production is more involved in the preparation, prioritization and planning of interventions; on the other, maintenance is more aware of user needs, and therefore more efficient.
This generates a virtuous dynamic, where listening and collaboration encourage continuous improvement in operational quality, in the service of site performance.
Daiichi Sankyo in figures
CARL Source CMMS: the strategic foundation for site transformation
Reasons for choosing CMMS CARL Source
“ The tool already existed, but was largely underutilized. We decided to roll it out fully because it combines rich functionality with user-friendliness—two essential levers for structuring our organization and promoting team buy-in,” explains Xavier Petitjean.
“We needed a market solution with a robust standard, backed by a reliable and scalable publisher. The reputation of CARL, a subsidiary of Berger-Levrault, and the quality of its support convinced us. Having already worked with the SAP PM module, I can say that CARL Source is just as effective in meeting the needs of our site. It is much more flexible and user-friendly and enables us to increase our efficiency.
To support the overhaul of its organization, the Altkirch site has thoroughly rethought its information system. CARL Source’s CMMS is the cornerstone of this project: it structures roles, formalizes processes and provides the key data required for Altkirch’s operational and strategic management.
All operational departments now use the CMMS: maintenance, production, quality, methods, projects, metrology, laboratory, etc. Eventually, almost half the workforce – i.e. 30 out of 70 people – will use this tool on a daily basis. This cross-functional approach guarantees an integrated approach in line with the site’s ambitions. The objectives are manifold: to gain in consistency, responsiveness, performance and versatility, since the CMMS will enable everyone to stand in for maintenance when needed, and guarantee the fluidity and resilience of the organization.
Collective skills development
Constantly evolving, the CMMS adapts to the needs of the site. CARL Source version upgrades are an opportunity to reinforce user skills and develop new uses:
- Production, to plan maintenance-related interventions more efficiently.
- The safety department, to ensure regulatory controls are followed.
- The quality department, to monitor metrological controls
- Methods, to redefine and monitor procedures, enhance product ranges and improve data reliability.
- The quality control laboratory, to manage preventive maintenance for its large fleet of equipment.
Leveraging excellence in maintenance
For maintenance teams, CARL Source opens up new prospects for continuous improvement:
- Optimization of preventive maintenance: development of plans dedicated to managing the obsolescence of first-generation equipment, adjustment of parts to ensure production continuity.
- Complete control of the technical fleet: implementation of QR codes on all 3,200 pieces of equipment, providing instant access to maintenance plans enriched with photos, videos, and technical content.
- Real-time inventory management: structuring of intermediate stocks to anticipate increases in production volumes.
- Rigorous monitoring of regulatory maintenance: compliance of audited equipment and control of pollutant emissions in line with environmental requirements.
CMMS: a decision-making tool for sustainable site performance
Thanks to its numerous customization options, rich parameter settings and wide range of indicators, the CMMS CARL Source stands out as a real decision-making tool, at the heart of the site’s continuous improvement approach.
Adopted by all teams, it enables everyone to optimize their activity. As soon as they log on, each employee has access to a personalized dashboard, offering immediate visibility of tasks in progress and overdue, as well as automated tracking of their interventions.
On the supervisory side, managers benefit from a global, real-time view of the state of the equipment fleet, planned interventions, stock levels, mobilizable resources, contract monitoring and regulatory audits – while maintaining strict control over the budget.
…in perfect harmony with the requirements of the pharmaceutical sector
In metrology, traceability is a critical requirement in the pharmaceutical environment. All activities are precisely recorded: inspection ranges, maintenance plans, periodicities, interventions carried out.
On the audit side, by integrating regulatory controls, emissions monitoring, meter readings… CARL Source offers a clear and synthetic view of environmental impact, facilitated by indicators and monitoring curves particularly appreciated during audits.
” This rigor has also contributed to the site obtaining its first ISO 45001 certification in 2025,” says the industrial director. The support provided by CARL, a subsidiary of Berger-Levrault, was also instrumental in this success. Every year, we carry out a CMMS qualification to demonstrate to our clients that our processes comply with Good Manufacturing Practice. “.
Towards complete decarbonization of Altkirch
An ICPE site, ISO 14001 – ISO 45001 certified
With a zero-carbon vision for 2030, the site combines technological innovation and environmental responsibility: wastewater treatment plant, closed-loop utility production (manufacture of steam, purified water, demineralized water, compressed air, methanol, and nitrogen), industrial boiler room, emissions monitoring via CMMS.
Our equipment maintenance solution for industry: CARL Source Factory
CARL Source Factory is our CMMS solution for the industrial sector. It has been designed to guarantee the best possible operating conditions for industrial equipment and buildings, and to ensure the safety of your personnel. It enables you to control your maintenance operations in real timeand regulatory diagnostics, and manage your contracts while reconciling quality and budgetary control. Designed in partnership with major industry players, this solution will enable you to meet the challenges of Industry 5.0.
CARL Source Track pack benefits
Integrated into CARL Source, it enables the software to be certified by auditors, since it takes into account the traceability requirements imposed in safety-related fields such as food and pharmaceuticals, with :
- Selective saving of changes to sensitive database data.
- Data integration with electronic signature mechanisms.
CMMS assessment at the Altkirch site
- Unified and optimized budget management.
- High-performance maintenance to support industrial ramp-up.
- Enhanced preventive maintenance for improved operational reliability.
- Real-time inventory monitoring for increased responsiveness.
- Control of regulatory and safety compliance.
- Strategic overhaul of metrology for optimal traceability.
- Enhanced synergy between production and maintenance to support volume growth.
- Harmonization of operational practices to promote versatility and cross-departmental collaboration.
- Structured management of site decarbonization initiatives.
