Thermo Fisher: Managing compliance requirements with visitor management

9 Apr 2019

Given its enterprise size, managing facilities and hosting guests is a complex matter for Thermo Fisher, the American multinational biotechnology product development company with over 65,000 employees globally. Their Oyster Point location in San Francisco hosts hundreds of visitors each week and multiple buildings are needed. Each guest is unique and is visiting for a different purpose which requires a high degree of customization. Operating in the biotechnology and medical industry, Thermo Fisher Scientific faces a highly regulated environment. The organization is required to adhere to compliance standards and manage detailed audit trails on who has had access at any given point in time. Health and safety are key priorities for every location and requires strict procedures for anyone walking through their doors. With that in mind, Thermo Fisher looked for the leading enterprise visitor management system for its locations. 

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. is an American multinational biotechnology product development company with over 65,000 employees globally. Its mission is to make the world healthier, cleaner, and safer, by supporting scientists with innovative technologies for every lab and application.

With its headquarters in Massachusetts, United States, the enterprise has expanded to over 700 locations worldwide. Thermo Fisher Scientific Oyster Point is now the main site in San Francisco, spanning production as well as administrative functions across multiple buildings.


The ChallengesGiven its enterprise size, managing facilities and hosting guests is a complex matter. The Oyster Point location in San Francisco hosts hundreds of visitors each week and multiple buildings are needed for the 615 employees. Each guest is unique and is visiting for a different purpose which requires a high degree of customization.

Operating in the biotechnology and medical industry, Thermo Fisher Scientific faces a highly regulated environment. The organization is required to adhere to compliance standards and manage detailed audit trails on who has had access at any given point in time. For instance, as a US manufacturer, Thermo Fisher needs to know the country of residence of any guest, based on the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR).

Health and safety are key priorities for every location and requires strict procedures for anyone walking through their doors. Managing large facilities poses great challenges in ensuring individuals can be notified at any time and are prepared for emergencies.

Aside from physical security, it is critical for Thermo Fisher to protect visitor data as well as its own IP. The company’s research and innovations are at the heart of its success. To harness the scientific knowledge, the enterprise wants to ensure only those can enter that have provided identification and signed NDAs.

The TransformationThese industry challenges have long been calling for a review of existing processes and tools to establish a better way to manage visitors. With the rise of cloud-based visitor management solutions, Thermo Fisher Oyster Point saw an opportunity to support their mission of creating a safer and more efficient environment.

With the introduction of the Traction Guest visitor management platform, the organization is now able to welcome its range of visitors and provide a streamlined and personalized check-in experience. Depending on the reason for visit, only relevant questions are asked. “Before we implemented Traction Guest, we had a paper guest book which was impossible to audit”, explains Carson Hackett, Facility Manager at Thermo Fisher, Oyster Point. Now, more data is captured, providing a clear history of who has was onsite at what point in time. As all data is now securely consolidated in a single cloud platform, Thermo Fisher Oyster Point can easily export it for audit or other reporting requirements.

Thermo Fisher has been one of the first customers to use the native e-signature functionality GuestSign to prompt visitors to sign NDAs and waivers within the electronic check-in experience. This increased security and reduced the manual work of storing signed paper documents. After the check-in is complete, visitor badges are automatically printed to further help visual identification while onsite.

To increase the visitor’s security, safety videos are integrated into the iPad check-in experience. Guests are made aware of facility rules and evacuation procedures. With the roll-call view, any administrator is able to instantly see who is in the building and can send alerts for evacuation.

Employees can pre-register visitors, directly through the Traction Guest platform and are automatically notified when a guest has arrived. This host notification is tailored to each building and visitor type to provide relevant information to the employee. Instead of leveraging the out-of-the-box integration with Active Directory, the organization chose to create a custom integration between the visitor management system and WorkDay, their financial management and HR management software. This allowed them to use existing data such as email addresses and phone numbers, to alert relevant employees and security when appropriate.

The result is that hosting has also become easier and more secure for the enterprise. “Traction Guest has taken a lot of pressure of the receptionist and the security guards. At the same time, the whole visitor experience has become a lot more fluid,” shares Hackett.

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