Another incredibly informative day with two company visits with vastly different industries. After breakfast, we headed over to Medochemie, a pharmaceutical company local to Limassol. Upon arrival, we entered a beautiful conference to learn the ins and outs of their company.
Medochemie is an international generic pharmaceutical company meaning they focus on generic branded medications allowing them to be cheaper for consumers while serving the same purpose. The Quality Operations Senior Manager spoke to us about their quality assurance protocols which ensure that the products are suitable for their intended use. To measure this, they use GMPs or good manufacturing practices which get evaluated by a qualified person who is the person to blame if anything goes wrong so they must check each batch thoroughly. Some of the GMP rules include checking documentation, productions, product recall or complaints, personal training/hygiene, quality control, and outsourced activities. These GMPs were implemented to reduce risk and it definitely seems similar to testing in the US and FDA approvals for medications.
We then headed into the storage warehouse which housed all of their bulk supplies and medications. This was super interesting as he went into detail on the utilization and efficiency of their equipment. This interested me a lot as it had been topics I had learned about in my classes this past year and seeing it in motion was very effective in fully understanding these topics. It also helped visualize the supply chains we had been talking about and see the beginning of the process of taking down products to prepare for loading onto transportation vessels to move to their next destinations.
Following this interactive visit, we had some free time for lunch back in the Limassol marina where we got some coffee and sandwiches to rejuvenate us for our next visit.
We then headed to Columbia Shipping Management where we met with top managers of the Limassol main headquarters. They presented to us the main locations of their offices and how large the fleet of ships they manage is. After this brief company introduction, we split into groups to GOP see the control room as well as the emergency meeting room. First, in the emergency meeting room, we discussed the protocols and regulations for emergency situations. This was very interesting to me as it felt like a movie in terms of everything but is very serious and real to the industry. We then went and saw the control room to see where they track vessels and various details about them. This was super informational as we got to see exactly what they see and track daily. They also showed us their new VR training on how they train crew members to be prepared before boarding which is very innovative.
It was a day full of learning and I enjoyed every minute. I am excited to see where tomorrow’s company visits will bring me.
