10 with Zen: How a Decade with ZenQMS Transformed Quality Management at Marken

A 10-Year Partnership Built on Quality and Collaboration

Over the past ten years, Marken’s quality organization has expanded to support a vast global network of depots, couriers, and home healthcare operations. Through every stage of that growth, ZenQMS has helped the company harmonize systems, simplify audits, and maintain compliance across thirty countries and multiple GxP environments.

To reflect on that journey, we spoke with Liz Chapman, Director of Quality Assurance, who has been with Marken since before implementation; Dominika Pelegrinova, a system administrator who leads workflow configuration and validation; and Melissa Herrera, who manages documentation and training.

Their story is one of steady evolution and deep partnership: a decade of continuous improvement powered by collaboration, configurability, and a shared commitment to quality.

The Beginning: From Paper to a Unified Quality Culture

Before digitization, Marken’s quality operations were split across very different parts of the business. 

One side worked to meet strict GxP expectations, the other focused on fast-moving logistics. Paper records, manual training tests, and disconnected processes made it difficult to demonstrate a single, consistent view of quality, especially during audits.

“We used to have tests people would send in, and we had to manually mark them and send them back. There’s no way we could manage that now with the number of people we have.” - Liz Chapman, Director of Quality Assurance, Marken

Operating under GDP, GMP, and GCP regulations meant Marken required a Part 11-compliant electronic quality management system capable of supporting every regulated process, from depot storage and manufacturing to clinical logistics and home healthcare.

When Marken implemented ZenQMS in 2016, they started with the Documents and Training Modules, with the immediate goal of moving off paper. The lasting impact was much greater: a single, unified quality management system that could connect every depot, service, and site worldwide.

“We merged our systems so now we have one quality management system, the same one followed by all,” - Liz Chapman, Director of Quality Assurance, Marken

That unification became the foundation for a culture of quality across the organization. Marken could now demonstrate a single, coherent system to customers, regulators, and auditors alike – something previously impossible with fragmented, paper-based processes.

“Auditing one location gives you visibility into the whole QMS. That’s a big difference from before.”

This unified foundation created a common language for quality across logistics operations and GMP environments, improving visibility and strengthening Marken’s posture with clients and regulators.

The Growth Stage: A Configurable and Easy-to-Use eQMS for Clinical Supply Chain Logistics and Storage

As Marken scaled to thousands of users across a global network, its quality system evolved in lockstep. What began with documents and training in 2016 quickly grew to include Issues, Change Control, and SCORM-based training as new operational and compliance needs emerged.

Rather than needing to replace its QMS, Marken expanded it – adapting ZenQMS to support every facet of its GxP operations, from cold-chain depot storage to home healthcare services. What started as a paper-to-digital transition has become a model of in-house ownership, configurability, and sustained quality growth.

“We really use the flexibility of configuring different workflows to suit our needs.” – Liz Chapman, Director of Quality Assurance, Marken

The flexibility of ZenQMS has allowed Marken to evolve its QMS as new modules and compliance requirements emerged without relying on external development or complex change requests.

“Configuring a workflow or making a change to an existing workflow, that’s the easiest part of the job.” - Dominika Pelegrinova, ZenQMS Administrator, Marken

Today, Marken’s ZenQMS administrators independently configure and manage workflows for audits, risk assessments, and data integrity reviews. This type of agility ensures the QMS grows with the business rather than slowing it down.

“The process of transferring from one module to another or updating modules has been relatively easy for the amount of work it is. Once you get the understanding of it, it’s simple and it makes sense.” - Melissa Herrera, Manager, Global Quality Systems, Marken

Tools That Make ZenQMS Easy to Learn & Use

Dominka credits accessible learning tools and the sandbox environment for building the team's confidence in configuring the QMS to fit their needs:

“The Zen Academy is a tremendous help. All the news articles you’ve published have been amazing. Having a sandbox is also amazing because you get to test it and see how it looks from the back end and from the user’s point of view.”

That usability carries over to onboarding and ongoing training. Melissa explained how the built-in resources simplify knowledge transfer for new hires. 

“The Zen Academy videos were really helpful. I have a new hire on my team, and she went through those and was like, ‘Oh, I get it now.’ There are a lot of great resources that break things down, and the system itself is simple, and it makes sense.”

Today & Beyond: A Steady Partnership Built on Support, Compliance, and Continuous Improvement

Turning Audit Burden into Audit Readiness

Marken operates in one of the most audit-intensive environments in life sciences logistics and storage. Multiple GxP frameworks, global sites, and sponsor expectations translate into frequent client and regulatory audits across the network. 

The company chose a practical approach: manage audits within configurable workflows in the Issues module rather than rely on a separate audit tool.

“We have a client audit category in our Issues module. It helps us manage client audits – when we’ve got the report, findings, and any actions, those are logged as tasks. It makes sure everything gets completed on time, and we’ve got the evidence there.”

For live audits, teams can quickly retrieve controlled documentation and training proof, including in local languages.

“Sometimes we’ll get a message saying, ‘Hey, we’re in an audit. We need this – where do I find it? And we’ll say, ‘It’s in Zen, right here.’ They can download it in whichever language they need. It takes a lot of the burden off us because they can access it themselves.”

When the Quality team does need to get involved, such as for pulling training records, the instant training visibility is a game-changer. 

“QA can see all the training records. It’s a nice dossier that gives a snapshot of everything someone is trained on, and that’s usually sufficient for auditors.”

The result is a repeatable, auditable way of working: one place to log the audit, one place to track findings and tasks, and one system of record for the documents and training that underpin compliance across the entire network.

A Partnership Built on Service & Responsiveness

After a decade on ZenQMS, Marken credits consistent, collaborative support as a key reason for the system’s longevity. The relationship is one of true partnership built on responsiveness and trust.

“We know all the service people,” said Melissa. “They’re there for our questions and provide great answers. If they don’t have it right away, they follow up. We also have our bi-weekly meetings with the team to clarify anything that wasn’t answered.”

That level of support helps resolve issues quickly and empowers Marken’s own administrators to better serve their teams.

“Good response time and helpful support help us be better admins for our teams.” – Liz Chapman, Director of Quality Assurance, Marken

Over the years, this partnership has evolved in step with Marken’s business, with feedback loops that ensure the platform continues to meet the demands of a complex, global operation.

Looking Ahead

Marken’s quality leaders are already planning how to leverage upcoming features such as AI-assisted search and conditional fields to simplify data access and configuration. After nearly ten years, enthusiasm for what comes next remains high.

“We see real improvements coming along, and they’re coming faster,” Liz said. “It’s all looking really good.”

Marken’s evolution shows how a configurable eQMS can help unify cultures, scale with growth, and simplify the most complex global quality operations.

“After nearly ten years, we’re still big fans of ZenQMS. It’s flexible, it’s intuitive, and the support has always been excellent.”

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