Putting Data First for Life Sciences with Bio-Rad

About the Company

Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. is a developer and manufacturer of specialized technological products for the life science research and clinical diagnostics markets. Bio-Rad’s diagnostic products and systems use a range of technologies and provide clinical information in blood transfusion, diabetes monitoring, autoimmune, and infectious disease testing markets. These products are used to support the diagnosis, monitoring, and treatment of diseases and other medical conditions.

Project Background

After decades of growth and expansion, Bio–Rad had accumulated many diverse, legacy systems – all in multiple languages and countries with disparate data sets that lacked uniformity. To streamline these systems and associated acquisitions into one global process, data had to be harmonized and cleansed before it could be consolidated into a single SAP ECC instance. To complete its global, multi-wave data migration and consolidate operations, Bio-Rad needed:

• Harmonization and data cleansing across diverse systems
• Ensured 100% accuracy for FDA and international regulatory compliance
• Clear ownership and governance of business-critical data
• Remove data as a risk factor to project timelines and go-live success.

Challenges

Each release consisted of entire regions of countries moving their business operations to SAP. In a single wave alone, hundreds of data-related objects – including recipes, routings, bins, pricing, source lists, and more – from numerous legacy source systems, needed to be properly converted and mapped before they could be integrated.

Before working with Syniti, there were no referential integrity checks—in order to load inventory, users had to first identify and load its prerequisite data objects to ensure the inventory could be processed successfully. “If you don’t have that, if you don’t have a tool like SKP that does that and connects the dots, then it’s very difficult to do,” Michel explained.

Multiple countries, regions, and languages weren’t the only complexity in the global transformation; different regions also have their own regulations and licensing requirements, impacting shipping, on-time delivery, and customer satisfaction. To meet this need, data had to accurate, with clear accountability and governance in place to define roles and ownership.

Implementation Highlights

Delivering Quality at Scale

When Bio-Rad brought in Syniti, there was no standard methodology to migrate data between systems. Syniti introduced its Data First methodology and the Syniti Knowledge Platform (SKP) to ensure accuracy, integrity, and predictability in every load.

“Initially, Bio-Rad didn’t have any real methodology or process to get the data from one system to another. When we brought in Syniti, they used their Data First methodology and SKP platform to make sure that we could make that happen,” explained Paul Michel, VP IT Governance & PMO at Bio-Rad Laboratories.

With SKP in place, Bio-Rad immediately started to see improved results. Syniti’s data-driven process addressed the most challenging Tier One data objects and ensured they were accurately extracted, cleansed, and loaded before entering SAP.

“…from there, we started to see better outputs and results,” recalled Michel. “We were stuck with many Tier One objects – materials, products, customers, vendors – and had many, many issues with that to get those elements out of the legacy system and into SAP.”

Key elements of Syniti’s Data First approach included:

• End-to-End Data Integrity Checks: SKP connected dependencies across data objects to ensure load readiness and prevent downstream issues.
• Cleansing and Harmonization at Scale: Materials, products, customers, vendors, recipes, routings, pricing, and more were standardized for seamless integration.
• Iterative Validation via Mock Loads: Each cycle improved quality, eliminating errors before production.
• Embedded Governance and Accountability: Clear roles defined ownership of every data element to sustain quality post-migration.

“For any efforts associated with data migrations, Syniti was so predictable in the outcomes that we were looking for that we didn’t want to look for another partner or another tool. This was the tool that worked and that delivered the results that we were looking for,” summarized Michel.

Results

Expect More with Trusted Data, Trusted Partner

Bio-Rad’s transformation demonstrates the power from putting data quality first, you don’t just complete a migration—you set the foundation for ongoing compliance, operational excellence, and business growth.

“For any efforts associated with data migrations, Syniti was so predictable in the outcomes that we were looking for that we didn’t want to look for another partner or another tool. This was the tool that worked and that delivered the results that we were looking for,” said Michel.

By putting data quality at the center of the migration, Syniti helped Bio-Rad:

• Achieve 100% accuracy in production loads
• Remove data from the critical path, enabling teams to focus on other project priorities
• Establish sustainable governance for ongoing compliance and operational efficiency
• Build trust through repeatable success, delivering exactly the outcomes promised

“After a while it starts to make sense, people start to see the outcomes and the data quality is improving,” he continued. “So that predictability starts to sink in, and people start to realize this is a method that we can stand behind.” As the project continued and Syniti consistently delivered upon its promises, Bio-Rad’s trust in their data also grew.

In each data load, the integrity of the data was checked through at every step of the process. Several mock data loads test the accuracy of the data, building upon each load to form a better data quality system – so by the time you go to production, it’s perfect.

“Our data has to be a hundred percent accurate,” said Michel. “We’re an FDA-regulated company, so starting with a partner like Syniti who just focuses on data gives you an advantage to make sure that it’s being taken care of and taken seriously. Look at Syniti as a partner that can help you to take one of the critical success factors for a project and make sure that it works.”