Pharmaceutical Operational Excellence - A suitable concept for Kenya?

The pharmaceutical environment
The global pharmaceutical industry currently faces a great upheaval that poses severe challenges to organizations of all sizes. Companies which were blessed with success until yesterday are now confronted with patent expirations, R&D pipelines running dry and considerable overcapacities. A constantly increasing competition and complexity within pharmaceutical manufacturing make pharma a tough business [1].
The current situation which pharma endures came, however, not out of the blue. Moreover, especially large research driven and generic manufacturers, working on margins´ edge, searched for and developed their own defence mechanisms to sustain in global business. One of the most promising approaches to improve a company´s situation that hit pharma agenda at the turn of the century is the relentless effort to achieve operational excellence (OPEX).