A company spokesperson told Outsourcing-Pharma that the £315K expansion, which was supported by a grant from Welsh Assembly Government’s investment fund, "[has improved] access for delivery, generated car parking and enabled future building by flattening the land.
"Penn are in essence focussing on developing the manufacturing capability and enhancing their ability to work with difficult to handle highly potent molecules."
COO Darren Hassey said that extension of the site by some 2,400sqm will provide a number of logistical benefits.
“By altering the externals of the site and moving the delivery and collection points we have in turn altered the internal factory processes, ensuring the smooth flow of people, process and materials."
Company CEO Peter George said that: “Heavily investing in our Tredegar site…strengthens our commitment to the local community and as a leading Welsh company we will endeavour to payback the Assembly Government’s faith in us by driving sustainable growth and employment."
Penn first announced its expansion programme in March and said that the move could create up to 155 new jobs at the site in the Tafarnaubach Industrial Estate over the next five years.
Prior to that, in May 2008, Penn bolstered its clinical trial supplies distribution capabilities seven-fold with the addition of 7,000 sqm of temperature controlled storage and distribution capacity.
Inventory management system
In related news, Penn announced that it has spent £350,000 on a new inventory management system at its facility in a bid to become a "client partner, rather than a supplier."
The new technology integrates real-time bar coding with what Penn describes as a customer portal that, it claims, makes it one of the first contract manufacturing organisations (CMO) in Europe to provide customers with the ability to track products and inventory remotely.
Hassey suggested that: "Our investment in this new customer portal...increases visibility for customers wishing to track their order status, materials disposition and third-party courier logistics."