In our interview series "Inspection around the world" we take a look behind the scenes of inspection at Syntegon. Behind each machine stands a team of experts – Ryan Booton, Technical Services Manager is one of them. He is a self-proclaimed problem-solver and has been supporting Syntegon’s customers for the last 16 years. In this interview, he talks about the importance of a personal rapport, and how Covid turned his work schedule upside down.
It´s all about making the customer happy
In our interview series "Inspection around the world" we take a look behind the scenes of inspection at Syntegon. Behind each machine stands a team of experts – Ryan Booton, Technical Services Manager is one of them. He is a self-proclaimed problem-solver and has been supporting Syntegon’s customers for the last 16 years. In this interview, he talks about the importance of a personal rapport, and how Covid turned his work schedule upside down.
Ryan, after finishing your studies in electronics and robotics, you started out at one of Syntegon’s competitors. What made you want to switch jobs and come work here?
Ryan: Back then, Syntegon was still Eisai Machinery, and their vision inspection was – just as it is today– top of the line. So naturally, I was excited to join the team. Thanks to an excellent software they offered the fastest system on the market with integrated SD technology that made particle inspection easier to work with. In my opinion that is still holds true: our vision inspection is the fastest, most robust and easiest to understand system out there, that also meets the pharmaceutical industry’s high standards.
You began working for Syntegon as a field engineer 16 years ago – and you still do. What is it that you enjoy about first-level customer support?
Ryan: As my wife will tell you – I like to solve problems, I like to fix things and make them better. This is basically what I get to do all day for our customers. In the US, we have an amazing field service in place that ensures minimal response time and one-on-one support. There is no ticket system involved, no answering machine and no long waiting times. Whenever there is an issue with one of our machines, each of our customers can call one of two field engineers that are assigned to him directly and get immediate feedback. None of our competitors offer anything similar to this kind of immediate support. And since the team and I in North America can rely on our colleagues in Germany and Japan, we are often able to solve our customers problems quickly. The results keep our customers satisfied. In fact, the majority of our customer base are repeat customers – that is quite the stamp of approval if you ask me.
Is there any customer project that you remember to this day?
Ryan: During the pandemic, I really felt like we were doing even more important work than usual. The first Moderna vaccines worldwide were inspected on our equipment. You have to remember, RNA-drugs had never been mass produced before and suddenly we needed to figure it out within a short time frame. We quickly learned that these drugs were difficult to inspect. The vaccine includes lipids. This means that the product’s viscosity and opaqueness vary from batch to batch – it is quite the wildcard. So, it was a challenge to adapt the vision system to these factors and to create an algorithm that would offset all these constant changes. However, in the end we succeeded much faster than any of our competitors. Within only twelve weeks we managed to set up the equipment, get it validated and start production – all the while achieving higher yields than any other company later on. In the end more than 80 percent of vaccine production in North America whether from Pfizer, Johnson and Johnson, AstraZeneca or Moderna ran on Syntegon equipment – I think it is quite amazing that we were able to achieve that.
That is indeed quite impressive. Do your problem-solving skills also extend to areas other than work?
Ryan: I guess so. Just recently, I helped my son fix the yoke for his airplane simulator. We took it apart and 3D-printed a new part for it. Now it has nice smooth transitions. I just really like being resourceful. Whether that is at my job or in my spare time. I have been an active boy scout instructor for the last 12 years and enjoy teaching kids of all ages how to work together and survive in nature. It’s often quite entertaining to watch them come up with solutions on the spot, but they keep me on my toes for sure.
