Accenture to acquire ESP to help life sciences clients digitize manufacturing operations

Accenture has agreed to acquire Enterprise System Partners (ESP), a consulting and manufacturing services provider for the life sciences industry that is headquartered in Cork, Ireland, serving clients around the globe.

ESP will join Accenture Industry X.0, which helps clients master the digital reinvention of industry, strengthening Accenture’s capabilities to transform manufacturing for pharmaceutical, biotech and medical device clients globally.

ESP has industry experience in planning and implementing manufacturing solutions, with niche expertise in manufacturing execution systems (MES) and serialization. MES digitally track and document the production process, providing the groundwork for more automated and analytics-driven manufacturing and supply chains. Serialization allows life science companies to digitally track each salable unit from the packaging line all the way to the patient.

Ben Salama, a managing director who leads Accenture Industry X.0 in the United Kingdom & Ireland, said, “Digital technologies are fundamentally transforming the factory floor. With ESP’s manufacturing solutions and our Industry X.0 capabilities, we can help clients take advantage of engineering and product lifecycle management, advanced analytics, and artificial intelligence for a flexible, efficient, and cost-effective production process.”

ESP will be the latest of several acquisitions Accenture has made recently to expand Accenture Industry X.0 in Europe and North America, including embedded software company Pillar Technology (US), hardware engineering firm Mindtribe (US), and strategic design consultancy designaffairs.

The acquisition will complement others in life sciences that Accenture has made in recent years. This includes the acquisition of LabAnswer in 2017, now the Accenture Scientific Informatics Services (ASIS) business, which helps capture, manage, and analyze complex laboratory and scientific data.

Anne Marie O’Halloran, a managing director and lead of Accenture’s Life Sciences Industry X.0 group, said, “New digital technologies and scientific advances are combining and changing how therapies can be developed and delivered to patients. There is significant opportunity for us to help clients drive greater efficiencies in how they manufacture essential medicines for patients around the world with the combination of ESP’s and our life sciences expertise.”

Founded in 2003, ESP will bring a team of 200 professionals with deep manufacturing, process and IT knowledge, who will work closely with Accenture’s Life Sciences group. It currently services 17 of the top 20 global pharmaceutical and biotech companies from offices in Ireland, France, the Netherlands, Puerto Rico, Turkey and the United States.

Liam O’Brien, managing director of ESP, said, “As part of Accenture Industry X.0, we will be able to offer enhanced services to transform our clients’ operations by streamlining processes from early-stage research through development to manufacturing and distribution. It will expand our capabilities to new regions and provide our team with new career opportunities in a truly global organization.”

Alastair Blair, country managing director for Accenture in Ireland, said: “The planned acquisition of ESP underscores our commitment to one of Ireland’s most important and growing industries – life sciences. We continue to invest in Ireland to grow our talent and increase our capabilities to help our clients apply the very latest digital technologies and drive innovation, further strengthening the position of Ireland as a leader in this industry.”

In February 2018, Accenture acquired Rothco, an award-winning, full service creative agency in Dublin with more than 170 employees. In February 2017, Accenture opened The Dock, Accenture’s global innovation hub, which now employees over 300 people in Dublin.