Alcon Selects Plateau to Manage Learning and Compliance Training for 12,000 Employees Around the World
Global Implementation Allows Alcon to Validate Learning Programs With FDA 21 CFR Part 11 Rules
ARLINGTON, VA, January 7, 2002 Plateau Systems, a provider of enterprise-class software that manages learning and knowledge processes for organizations, announced today that Alcon has selected the Plateau Learning Management System (LMS) to manage Web-based and classroom instruction for up to 12,000 employees at 14 manufacturing plants around the world.
The Plateau LMS will schedule, deliver and manage all of Alcon's live and asynchronous learning events, from Web-based distance learning to instructor-led laboratory work. A $2.8 billion international pharmaceutical company with offices in 75 countries, Alcon also will use Plateau LMS to manage a variety of soft skills training, career planning and succession planning, enabling administrators to select the best person for a given job and allowing employees to reach their professional goals.
Alcon's manufacturing facility in Fort Worth, TX has used Plateau's LMS since the mid-1990s to manage training for its employees. Based in large part on the success of that program, Alcon selected the Plateau LMS to validate its training program across the enterprise with the Food and Drug Administration and other international regulators. Alcon must comply with a variety of stringent guidelines on the management of electronic records, including FDA 21 CFR Part 11, FDA Good Manufacturing Practices, and international ISO 9000 quality standards.
Plateau is helping more than a dozen global pharmaceutical and health care companies validate their training programs with these regulations, including ALZA, AstraZeneca, Genzyme and Zimmer. Plateau LMS tracks changes in individual training histories as a series of unique, time-stamped events, allowing organizations to create comprehensive audit trails. Plateau LMS also guarantees the validity and security of training records by developing frequently updated PIN-based electronic signatures for all users.
Plateau's best-in-class configuration management features have produced significant Returns on Investment (ROI) for pharmaceutical companies by automating one of the most complex business requirements in the industry version control of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). Each month, pharmaceutical companies update hundreds of SOPs for manufacturing and quality control. Plateau LMS automatically finds all employees affected by each of these revisions, alerting them by e-mail that they must be retrained to keep their qualification for a given task.
Automating this process has saved companies millions of dollars in training costs, reduced the learning cycle for employees, and allowed products to go faster to market with stronger quality control.
Plateau is the proven leader in developing learning and knowledge process solutions that solve complex business problems for the pharmaceutical industry, said Paul Sparta, Plateau's CEO and Chairman. After several years of work with one of Alcon's manufacturing facilities, we are proud the company has selected us to create a program for the entire enterprise that provides its employees with anytime, anywhere education.
About Plateau: Plateau's enterprise-class software manages all of an organization's learning and knowledge on one scalable platform. Plateau 4 Learning Management System (LMS) is built on Web-based J2EE/EJB architecture, and is the engine behind the largest e-Learning initiatives in the corporate, non-profit and government markets. Plateau 4 LMS automates the management and delivery of online and classroom learning, organizational knowledge and competencies for clients including the American Red Cross, Motorola, Union Pacific and the U.S. Air Force. Plateau is listed as a leader in LMS evaluations from Gartner Inc. and META Group. The company is headquartered in Arlington, VA. For more information, please visit www.plateau.com.
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