Pfizer Inc. discovers, develops, manufactures, and markets leading prescription medicines for humans and animals and many of the world's best-known consumer brands. Pfizer is the undisputed leader in human pharmaceuticals, first in every major world market with products available in more than 150 countries. With a research and development budget of more than $7 billion for 2003, Pfizer is also the world's largest privately funded biomedical research group, visible around the world and investing more than $100 million every week discovering and developing high-value medicines. The Pfizer brand represents the efforts of more than 120,000 men and women responsible for many of the most important advances in human and animal health.
CHALLENGE
Pfizer manufactures more than 140 prescription medications and over the counter products. Ensuring that these products are properly manufactured is vital to the health of its customers and to its business. Pfizer uses a program of employee education, testing and certification to guarantee that personnel involved in the manufacturing processes are the most highly trained and qualified.
With thousands of employees involved in the manufacturing
of Pfizer’s medications, the testing and certification process had grown increasingly unmanageable. The company sought to streamline this process without losing the ability to verify the test taker’s
identity or diminishing the integrity of the testing or the
results.
SOLUTION
To simultaneously simplify Pfizer’s testing program
and maintain data security, SeePoint provided automated testing
kiosks with biometric authentication of test takers. The
touch screen computer kiosk systems not only administer the
tests but also act as virtual proctors, greatly improving
the accuracy and the efficiency of the testing process.
Using the kiosk as an automated testing station greatly enhances
the efficiency of Pfizer’s data management. The test results are easily stored, archived and retrieved, and unlike written tests, where a test taker’s
responses would have to be reentered for computerized storage,
there are no data entry errors.
By customizing a standard SeePoint kiosk product, Pfizer
was able to quickly and easily create secure, self-service
testing stations built exactly to its specifications. Because
of the modular nature of SeePoint systems, almost any combination
of the more than 25 peripheral devices offered by SeePoint
may be seamlessly added to the entire line of countertop,
wall mounted and freestanding kiosks. Pfizer started with
SeePoint’s WallStation Pro, a wall mounted terminal,
and added a fingerprint scanner, phone handset, vandal resistant
keyboard and wireless LAN to each system.
Pfizer selected an optical fingerprint recognition device,
also knows as a fingerprint scanner, as its biometric based
security solution. The fingerprint scanner authenticates
the identity of the test taker, acting as a digital password.
Unlike a word based code, a fingerprint cannot be forgotten,
shared, lost or stolen, and Pfizer is not faced with maintaining
thousands of passwords. The fingerprint scanner, like all
of SeePoint’s peripheral devices, mounts directly to
the kiosk system without any exposed wires or cables.
Among the advantages of the automated testing stations with
virtual proctor is that the human resources required to oversee
the exams are drastically reduced. Rather than having a live
proctor for every test at every location, the kiosk’s fingerprint scanner verifies the identity of the test taker, and the phone handset connects the user to a centrally located proctor that can answer any of the test taker’s
questions. Thus, one proctor can assist multiple test takers
in multiple locations.
The vandal resistant keyboard on Pfizer’s kiosks operates
just like a PC keyboard but is designed to withstand rigorous
usage. Coupled with the intuitive touch screen interface,
this keyboard enables test takers to easily and quickly input
information.
Also the space-efficient and durable design of the SeePoint
systems make Pfizer’s testing stations highly portable.
Systems may be easily moved around a facility, and with the
addition of a travel case, may be safely transported between
facilities. Unlike a PC which can be cumbersome to set up,
all components of the kiosk are completely integrated so
moving and setting up the systems is a snap. The addition
of wireless LAN also enhances the portability of the testing
stations. To set up the system, only an electrical outlet
is required because wireless LAN eliminates the need for
a hard-wired network connection near the electrical outlet.
RESULTS
With automated testing stations from SeePoint, Pfizer can easily and securely administer and maintain the results of thousands of employee examinations with far fewer demands on it resources and with a higher degree of confidence.
Pfizer Inc. discovers, develops, manufactures, and markets leading prescription medicines for humans and animals and many of the world's best-known consumer brands. Pfizer is the undisputed leader in human pharmaceuticals, first in every major world market with products available in more than 150 countries. With a research and development budget of more than $7 billion for 2003, Pfizer is also the world's largest privately funded biomedical research group, visible around the world and investing more than $100 million every week discovering and developing high-value medicines. The Pfizer brand represents the efforts of more than 120,000 men and women responsible for many of the most important advances in human and animal health.