Accenture has agreed to acquire Enterprise System Partners (ESP), a consulting and manufacturing services provider for the life sciences headquartered in Cork, Ireland. ESP will join Accenture Industry X.0, which helps clients digitize and optimize manufacturing operations, strengthening Accenture’s capabilities to help transform manufacturing for pharma, biopharma, and medical device clients globally. The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
 
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 companies to digitally track each saleable unit from the packaging line 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 is the latest of several acquisitions Accenture has made recently to expand its 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.
 
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.”
 
ESP will bring a team of 200 professionals with 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 biopharma 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.”