Navigate BioPharma streamlines drug development with Dynamics 365

Seeking simplicity and better visibility 

Until recently, Navigate BioPharma used less efficient methods to manage customers, contracts, and projects. However, the company saw opportunities to simplify project implementation and streamline the customer contract process by integrating their LabVantage Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) and SharePoint solutions. Navigate also saw the opportunity to gain more visibility into resource utilization, forecasting, and billing, from lead generation through project execution. 

Enhancing process efficiency with Dynamics 365

To accomplish their goals, Navigate BioPharma chose Dynamics 365 Project Operations for project planning, pricing, and costing; time and expense tracking; resource scheduling; and invoicing. The organization also selected Dynamics 365 Sales for managing contacts, contracts, accounts, product catalog, sales, forecasting, and documents related to projects and quotes.

Navigate worked closely with Microsoft Partner Hitachi Solutions, which conducted a proof of concept for the new solution before implementing it in production. During implementation, Hitachi Solutions integrated the company’s LIMS and SharePoint solutions with Dynamics 365, connecting the LIMS solution with Dynamics 365 through a Boomi Azure Service Bus integration. Navigate saw tremendous opportunity in the flexibility of Dynamics 365 by implementing a calibration maintenance and management solution (CMMS) in Dynamics 365, adding more functionality without incurring additional costs.  

To enhance security, the solution was implemented in Novartis’ Microsoft Azure tenant and is controlled by Novartis. The solution went live in 2023, and since then, Hitachi Solutions has continued to optimize the environment and provide managed services for Navigate.

The new system enhances efficiency, and Dynamics 365 automates key steps from beginning to end of the project management process. For instance, when the company receives a new project lead, it enters the system as an opportunity in Dynamics 365 Sales. After it becomes a quote, then a contract, the new project moves to Dynamics 365 Project Operations, where project managers use templates to easily populate tasks specific to the project and assign employees to each task.

Real-time insights and enhanced collaboration have enabled Navigate to respond more quickly and effectively to meet customer needs. “The increased automation of Dynamics 365 fosters greater productivity and efficiency within our organization,” says Edward Prenn Ravey, Associate Director of Digital Solutions at Navigate BioPharma. 

Standardized, end-to-end project management 

Automated processes aren’t the only benefit of the new solution. Instead of building each new project from scratch, project managers can now set up projects in half the time by using templates. “With Dynamics 365, we now have standard project types, including project specific services and clinical trial sample testing and different project template choices with standard tasks,” says Ravey. “Associates can easily see the same tasks across projects, but with specific information for their assigned projects.”

Navigate project managers also have more visibility into operations with Dynamics 365 because they can seamlessly track projects from lead generation all the way through project execution. “With the enhanced project visibility in Dynamics 365, we're even better equipped to accurately estimate project costs and timelines. Ultimately, we have more efficient sales processes and better customer relationships because we’ve improved our visibility,” says Ravey.

More effective project resourcing 

Additionally, dashboards built on Microsoft Power BI provide real-time insights into incidents, project status, and delivery conflicts, allowing Navigate to improve utilization of company resources, human and otherwise. “Power BI dashboards help our project managers look at project scope, effort, and timesheets to make project resourcing more efficient and help us improve long-term planning for revenue, staffing, and capacity,” says Ravey.

In addition, the integration of timekeeping with project management in Dynamics 365 helps the company’s project managers more accurately track time spent on various tasks, which is a critical part of billing and resource management.  "We now have the capability for more precise project billing forecasts, which provides us with accurate forecast data," says Ravey. 

Streamlined billing and quoting through integrations with critical systems 

The integrations in the new solution centralize test data; project information such as specimens, equipment, cases, workers, and shipments; and financial, billing, and auditing information. “LIMS integrates with Dynamics 365 to automatically bill testing units as they are completed, saving the project managers time and reducing manual data input and human error. The system then automatically generates invoices at the end of our billing period. Finance and accounting teams can easily access the billing data,” says Diana Fernandez, Coordinator, Portfolio and Strategic Alliances, Navigate BioPharma. 

Dynamics 365 allows Navigate to maintain a controlled complex product catalog. The enhanced product catalog streamlines quote building and project billing. “This has facilitated efficient collaboration between our business development, PM, and finance teams, and streamlined our quoting process with sponsors," Fernandez says.

A healthy outlook

Looking ahead, Navigate BioPharma is considering implementing marketing capabilities in Dynamics 365 Customer Insights. The company also looks forward to using Dynamics 365 for more reporting and analytics; even better resource utilization, including time and equipment tracking; resource planning; and logistics. “Dynamics 365 helps us support our mission to improve and extend patient lives through innovative treatments, and it will enable us to grow into the future,” says Ravey.