Zinc MAPS Benefits
Global Application with Global Support
Zinc MAPS is used by over 17,000 individuals in 100 life science companies worldwide. With regional offices in Oxford, New York and Sydney, Zinc Ahead is well positioned to support our clients across the globe.
The architecture of Zinc MAPS has been developed to enable global life science companies to comply effectively with local regulations in each affiliate, as well as driving synergies between affiliates and headquarters.

Clients use the country / regional architecture of Zinc MAPS in three key ways, as illustrated in the diagram above.
Scenario 1: Corporate to Affiliate Distribution
Template materials produced at corporate / regional headquarters can be easily distributed to affiliates for approval to the requirements of local regulatory agencies. In addition, Zinc MAPS allows the approved reference package used in the corporate material to be quickly re–used in local items, saving time and improving the quality of materials. Senior team members at the corporate level are able to monitor whether template materials have been adopted by each affiliate, helping to ensure consistency of message–delivery across a region.
Scenario 2: Shared Review
Zinc MAPS facilitates shared reviews across a corporate / affiliate team. This is particularly useful where international materials are going to be used by a local affiliate and must therefore comply with local regulations. In many cases, materials used in symposia at international meetings require this type of review.
Scenario 3: Implementation of Best Practice
In a highly–globalised industry, it is often the case that materials created in an affiliate have applicability elsewhere. Zinc MAPS enables users at a corporate / regional level to create pan-regional materials based upon “Best Practice” in a single affiliate. This helps to ensure that every affiliate benefits from materials approved in a single country.
Compliance
In an increasingly regulated and competitive life science industry, the need to guarantee a high level of compliance with both internal and external regulations is paramount to every life science company.
Zinc MAPS enhances compliance with approval procedures by increasing both the transparency of the process and the accountability of individuals within it.
Every item moving through approval in Zinc MAPS generates a robust audit trail which records every action, version and comment made on the piece. These audit trails, or “Route Maps” are preserved indefinitely within the system archive ensuring that our clients meet all regulatory requirements for data retention.

In addition, the high level of visibility provided by the Route Map enables key Zinc MAPS users to easily audit whether approvals have been conducted in accordance with company procedures.
Zinc MAPS also provides a wide range of management reports as standard. These range from analysis of the number and type of materials raised during a given period, to the speed with which items have moved through approval, and the responsiveness of each member of the approval team. Zinc MAPS management reports allow system leaders to quickly identify and resolve process issues, helping to ensure a fully compliant and efficient approval process.
Efficiency
Research indicates that an average promotional review takes between three and six weeks to reach completion. In an increasingly competitive life science industry, approval processes can often be too slow to allow a rapid response to competitive threats. Reasons for delays in approval lead–time include:
- Reviewers being out of the office.
- Items being held by reviewers who are unable to review them due to other workload pressures.
- Items going missing during the approval process due to tracking problems.
Because Zinc MAPS is a web–based application, reviewers can access it from any location or review off–line if necessary. The application also facilitates a variety of workflow modes including “Open Access Review” which enables the reviewer to “check out” material for review on a first–come, first–served basis. Open Access removes the issue of a single team member blocking review by other team members and helps to dramatically accelerate approval cycle times. Perhaps most importantly, the high level of transparency generated by Zinc MAPS ensures that items are never misplaced, while encouraging team members to complete their review efficiently.
Zinc Ahead analyses performance improvements versus baseline during each Zinc MAPS implementation.
The chart below summarises the results for the pooled analysis of recent implementations in seven pharmaceutical companies generated during the initial three–month launch phase of Zinc MAPS. In summary, Zinc MAPS demonstrates a highly significant (p<0.0001) reduction in approval lead–time of 57%.

Global Application with Global Support
Zinc MAPS is used by over 17,000 individuals in 100 life science companies worldwide. With regional offices in Oxford, New York and Sydney, Zinc Ahead is well positioned to support our clients across the globe.
The architecture of Zinc MAPS has been developed to enable global life science companies to comply effectively with local regulations in each affiliate, as well as driving synergies between affiliates and headquarters.

Clients use the country / regional architecture of Zinc MAPS in three key ways, as illustrated in the diagram above.
Scenario 1: Corporate to Affiliate Distribution
Template materials produced at corporate / regional headquarters can be easily distributed to affiliates for approval to the requirements of local regulatory agencies. In addition, Zinc MAPS allows the approved reference package used in the corporate material to be quickly re–used in local items, saving time and improving the quality of materials. Senior team members at the corporate level are able to monitor whether template materials have been adopted by each affiliate, helping to ensure consistency of message–delivery across a region.
Scenario 2: Shared Review
Zinc MAPS facilitates shared reviews across a corporate / affiliate team. This is particularly useful where international materials are going to be used by a local affiliate and must therefore comply with local regulations. In many cases, materials used in symposia at international meetings require this type of review.
Scenario 3: Implementation of Best Practice
In a highly–globalised industry, it is often the case that materials created in an affiliate have applicability elsewhere. Zinc MAPS enables users at a corporate / regional level to create pan-regional materials based upon “Best Practice” in a single affiliate. This helps to ensure that every affiliate benefits from materials approved in a single country.
Compliance
In an increasingly regulated and competitive life science industry, the need to guarantee a high level of compliance with both internal and external regulations is paramount to every life science company.
Zinc MAPS enhances compliance with approval procedures by increasing both the transparency of the process and the accountability of individuals within it.
Every item moving through approval in Zinc MAPS generates a robust audit trail which records every action, version and comment made on the piece. These audit trails, or “Route Maps” are preserved indefinitely within the system archive ensuring that our clients meet all regulatory requirements for data retention.

In addition, the high level of visibility provided by the Route Map enables key Zinc MAPS users to easily audit whether approvals have been conducted in accordance with company procedures.
Zinc MAPS also provides a wide range of management reports as standard. These range from analysis of the number and type of materials raised during a given period, to the speed with which items have moved through approval, and the responsiveness of each member of the approval team. Zinc MAPS management reports allow system leaders to quickly identify and resolve process issues, helping to ensure a fully compliant and efficient approval process.
Efficiency
Research indicates that an average promotional review takes between three and six weeks to reach completion. In an increasingly competitive life science industry, approval processes can often be too slow to allow a rapid response to competitive threats. Reasons for delays in approval lead–time include:
- Reviewers being out of the office.
- Items being held by reviewers who are unable to review them due to other workload pressures.
- Items going missing during the approval process due to tracking problems.
Because Zinc MAPS is a web–based application, reviewers can access it from any location or review off–line if necessary. The application also facilitates a variety of workflow modes including “Open Access Review” which enables the reviewer to “check out” material for review on a first–come, first–served basis. Open Access removes the issue of a single team member blocking review by other team members and helps to dramatically accelerate approval cycle times. Perhaps most importantly, the high level of transparency generated by Zinc MAPS ensures that items are never misplaced, while encouraging team members to complete their review efficiently.
Zinc Ahead analyses performance improvements versus baseline during each Zinc MAPS implementation.
The chart below summarises the results for the pooled analysis of recent implementations in seven pharmaceutical companies generated during the initial three–month launch phase of Zinc MAPS. In summary, Zinc MAPS demonstrates a highly significant (p<0.0001) reduction in approval lead–time of 57%.
