Now showing 1 - 10 of 10
  • Publication
    Pharmaceutical Operational Excellence - A suitable concept for Kenya?
    (Space Sellers Ltd., 2014-04-30) ; ;
    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).
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  • Publication
    Pharmaceutical OPEX - The Next Generation
    (Jameson Publishing, 2013-10-04) ;
    The history of operational excellence (OPEX) in the pharma industry is short. Since the first serious initiatives were launched at the beginning of the 21st century, OPEX gained momentum and became a priority at all hierarchies in pharma manufacturers all over the world. Simultaneously, the science of pharmaceutical manufacturing appeared on the agenda of the FDA. As a reaction to a continuously rising number of post-approval changes, the FDA started to push the industry toward developing a scientific understanding of pharmaceutical manufacturing processes and encouraged manufacturers to use innovative technologies like PAT (process analytical technology) for better process control. As a result, quality and productivity appeared on the agency's agenda, providing the industry with new opportunities and opening the way for OPEX. The incremental introduction of OPEX in the pharmaceutical industry happened in three major stages. To date, there is no clear-cut definition of the term operational excellence. In fact, the term itself is often used for newly launched improvement activities or as a proxy for cost-cutting programs, Six Sigma, and Lean initiatives, all of which contribute to its dilution over time. OPEX should be understood as the balanced management of cost, quality, and time while at the same time focusing on the customers' needs. To achieve these ends, OPEX comprises structural and behavioral changes thought to optimally support necessary activities. In order to maintain sustainability in changing or volatile environments, OPEX has to be pushed by top management and has to be designed to engage every employee. Obviously, OPEX is not only concerned with performance. It also encompasses the way leading to superior performance and to practices that allow an organization to continuously improve itself.
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  • Publication
    The Future of Pharmaceutical Manufacturing
    (Springer, 2014)
    Basu, Prabir K.
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    Basu, Prabir K.
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    Werani, Jürgen
    The pharmaceutical industry is definitely a high-tech industry, for its role in discovery of new medicines for the treatment of unmet medical needs. Pharmaceutical manufacturing is complex and sophisticated due to various reasons, but in its current state probably cannot be categorized as really high-tech, too. In fact, pharmaceutical manufacturing was considered as relatively low-tech even by the pharmaceutical companies themselves as recently as in 2002. When ex-FDA commissioner Mark McClellan sought a benchmark for future pharmaceutical manufacturing performance, he looked outside the industry, and challenged Pharma, "You need to improve…Other high-tech industries have achieved enormous productivity gains in manufacturing in the last 25 years. We should expect nothing less from the Pharmaceutical industry."
    Scopus© Citations 2
  • Publication
    A Look to the Environment and the Impact on OPEX
    (Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 2013) ; ; ;
    Basu, Prabir
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    Werani, Jürgen
    With a glimpse to global stock markets, the pharmaceutical industry has performed poorly compared to other industries over the last 10 years. Positive influencing factors like the strong growth in emerging markets (see Fig. 6.1), the aging population and influenza pandemics seem to be counterbalanced by other factors like increasing competition, the global financial and debt crisis, the patent cliff, an increasing complexity and a declining R&D productivity.
  • Publication
    Barriers and Success Factors in Managing Operational Excellence
    (Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 2013) ; ; ;
    Basu, Prabir K.
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    Werani, Jürgen
    In our previous book, "The pathway to Operational Excellence in the Pharmaceutical Industry", we developed a model that aimed at the sustainable implementation of Operational Excellence (OPEX) initiatives. Over the last 10 years, we have witnessed and examined several more OPEX programs, and this chapter will tie in these insights with our previous work. Knowing success factors and barriers in managing OPEX can provide guidelines as to how to design, review and adapt an excellence program. Thus, the first part of this chapter will discuss aspects that should be taken into consideration when launching an OPEX initiative. The subsequent part provides insights into challenges OPEX managers of more mature initiatives are likely to face. At the same time, this section serves as a bridge to parts II and III of the book by giving insights into practical applications in the industry, mostly written by industry leaders themselves.
    Scopus© Citations 2
  • Publication
    OPEX: A Definition
    (Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 2013) ; ; ;
    Basu, Prabir
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    Werani, Jürgen
    There is no clear-cut definition of Operational Excellence (OPEX) in theory or practice. Especially the inflationary use of the term for almost every launched improvement activity rather obscured than clarified its meaning. In some companies it has been used synonymously for cost-cutting, in others similar to Six Sigma or lean production. This chapter explains our understanding of, and our philosophy behind, OPEX. Based on this understanding we discuss the benefits of striving for OPEX in the Pharmaceutical Industry. We start with a short story from a completely different field, the management of a major airline's baggage handling department. This will foster the understanding of hindrances to excellence in today's companies. We proceed with examining existing excellence models, and derive common elements. This sets the stage for the introduction and the explanation of the St. Gallen OPEX Model. We then conclude this chapter with our definition of Operational Excellence.
    Scopus© Citations 4
  • Publication
    Matching Problems with Tools
    (Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 2013) ; ; ; ;
    Basu, Prabir
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    Werani, Jürgen
    In order to provide a profound understanding of the use of tools, it is necessary to discuss them in the context of objectives that can be reached by their application. A tool and its mere application are not just self-contained. This becomes apparent when looking at the further development of Deming's famous PDCA cycle by Kaoru Ishikawa. He expanded the two steps "Plan" and "Do" by an extra step each, making six steps out of the four: Determine goals and targets, determine methods of reaching goals, engage in education and training, implement work, check the effects of implementation and take appropriate action. These kinds of cycles are typical for many approaches in quality management/improvement. It is a pragmatic step-by-step approach for collecting data, analyzing them and deriving solutions (Fig. 18.1).