Pfizer
Microsoft Dynamics 365 ERP training for the global pharmaceutical organization.
The Onboard ERP training partnership enabled this Dynamics 365 project to go-live on schedule.
Nicola Barnes, ERP Project Manager
Following an earlier partnership to support a Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 ERP implementation, the pharmaceutical brand Pfizer returned to Onboard ERP to provide training support for their implementation of Microsoft Dynamics 365.
Pfizer is one of the world’s premier biopharmaceutical companies. For more than 170 years, the company has been at the forefront of global healthcare, delivering innovative therapies to extend and improve quality of life to billions. Catering to its global market, Pfizer has major manufacturing facilities in Europe, Asia Pacific and the United States.
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In the past, Pfizer used the Microsoft Dynamics AX2012 ERP system, which no longer met the company’s needs. The outdated system managed distribution and clinical trial supplies, requiring Pfizer to rely on a separate in-house designed and built solution.
Pfizer decided to replace the system with Dynamics 365 starting in July 2024. This unified, cloud-based platform incorporates the functionality needed for distributing clinical supplies. The transition involved migrating several features from the old system to the new one, with updated distribution capabilities set to be implemented by the end of 2024.
The new system is critical to Pfizer’s future operations. However, despite the significance of a seamless transition, the company lacked sufficient internal resources to develop effective ERP training materials for the implementation.
Pfizer chose Onboard ERP to ensure the transition to the new system was as smooth and successful as possible. The companies share a strong working relationship, as Onboard ERP had previously designed and delivery the end-user training program for Pfizer’s earlier ERP implementation. Nicola Barnes, Pfizer’s project leader, emphasized the importance of this existing partnership to the project’s success: “It was quite easy for us to go back to Onboard ERP,” she said. “We worked with some of the colleagues that we’d worked with previously.”
As a market leader in technology transfer, Onboard ERP supports various delivery styles, including classroom and web-based training. However, each project’s complexities and specifics guide a bespoke, tailored approach to meet the unique needs of every client. In Pfizer’s transition to D365, Onboard ERP customized and updated its earlier ERP training materials with fresh content and branding.
Onboard ERP’s method ensured that Pfizer’s users felt comfortable with the new platform while learning its updated interface and features. This familiarity allowed Pfizer to focus more on on-the-job training, supplemented by instructor-led sessions, rather than a traditional classroom approach. “This time,” Barnes said, “we’ve gone for a slightly lighter touch with the [delivery of the] training. We’ve updated our procedures, which go hand-in-hand with the training materials”
Barnes highlighted Onboard ERP’s pivotal role in the successful transition to D365, praising the company’s commitment to understanding the complexities of Pfizer’s new system and building on existing relationships. She expressed her appreciation for their service:
“Onboard ERP customized training materials but also worked with our end users who are subject matter experts to ensure they had the right knowledge. There was an extra layer of effort; it wasn’t just the end product; it was the journey of gathering the information from our business users. That was really beneficial.”
