ZENITH TECHNOLOGIES Limited is an indigenous Irish company based in Cork with offices in Ireland, the UK, the USA, India and Singapore.
To date, Zenith's main focus has been in the highly regulated pharmaceutical/biotech sectors where automation and validation are intrinsic requirements in production.
As these sectors are regulated by the US Food and Drugs Agency, all of their systems and methodologies deliver FDA- compliant solutions.
O'Regan recalls his start-up position back in 1998 which commenced with two people in a spare room in his house in Carrigaline.
It has since grown organically to a current headcount of 280 people in three continents over the last 10 years.
The significant growth steps followed the company establishing in Singapore in 2002 and in the US in 2006.
The business was driven by winning global alliance contracts with major pharmaceutical multinationals.
Zenith has developed software standard modules which are based on the vast experience they have gained over the years.
These standards have been successfully deployed, tried, tested and validated by various customers in the pharmaceutical/ biotech industries.
The short-term objectives of Zenith Technologies are to grow the workforce to 500 people and the turnover to in excess of €50 million globally by 2010.
Product/Service:Zenith Technologies provides innovative, reliable and technically advanced process measurement, automation and MES solutions to the process, pharma/biotechnology, food and electronic sectors.
The company is now diversifying beyond the automation space and offering services and solutions to other aspects of the pharmaceutical business in areas such as Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES), global programme management, managed services and general engineering.
Customers: The company has global preferred supplier agreements with GSK, GSK Bio and Novartis and has also successfully executed projects for Wyeth Medica, Pfizer and UCB Schwarz Pharma among others, across three continents.
While their primary market is the pharmaceutical/biotech sector, due to their technological fluency and growing reputation, Zenith are receiving inquiries from companies in the electronics, oil and gas, energy and food and beverage industries.
QA: Brendan O'Regan
What vision prompted you to start up in business?
When I started in this business area, all of the automation talent was foreign and work was executed abroad.
I saw an opportunity to replace this imported technology with "home-grown" talent.
I also had the desire to determine my own future and to demonstrate Irish technical skills on a global basis.
What is your biggest business achievement?
Establishing the Singapore operation and seeing it grow into a fully autonomous office with full delivery and support capability. This model has been used again for building operations in the US and India.
How do you recharge your batteries?
On the sea; sailing and boating of all types, and on land; motorcycling.
I enjoy reading and world cinema, in particular French film.
Has your Irishness contributed to your success?
Certainly! We don't have any "imperial baggage" which makes it easier for us to work abroad and bring multi-cultural teams together.
Also the ability to have a laugh and not take oneself too seriously is a great Irish trait that can defuse tensions in a business and social context.
"When I started in this business area, all of the automation talent was foreign and work was executed abroad. I saw an opportunity to replace this imported technology with 'home-grown' talent. I also had the desire to determine my own future.
