How a COO Drives Operational Excellence in the Pharmaceutical Sector

A company-wide mandate, such as a transformation, business recovery, or digital transition, may greatly influence a COO's vision. It is critical to clearly communicate this vision to all operators, particularly those on the front lines, so that they can grasp and repeat it. This set of stakeholders' high degrees of ownership and buy-in boost the chances of success. There is little prospect of motivating action if the goal is too complicated or does not resonate with employees.

The focus of Operational Excellence in the pharmaceutical business is fundamentally servicing patients and customers effectively in terms of Safety, Quality, Delivery, and Cost. This strategy motivates the organization to thoroughly examine every aspect of its operations to ensure that it aligns with the demands of its customers and patients. The Operational Excellence concept entails the use of a number of ideas, methods, and instruments to the long-term improvement of key performance measures. It is a trip that is covered step by step throughout time in all facets of the business.

An Operational Excellence model is critical to organizational performance in increasingly competitive business contexts with ever-changing market requirements. COOs in the Pharma organizations utilize numerous frameworks to examine and enhance their work practice and performance in order to strongly institutionalize the culture of Operational Excellence throughout layers of business. An Operational Excellence model should be based on the following pillars, with careful study and adherence to the company's fundamental values and vision: Operational Leadership, Technological Focus and Behavioral Leadership. These pillars aid in the incorporation of efficiency, quality, safety, and sustainability into the processes themselves.

Leadership in Operations:

Kiichiro Toyoda, founder of Toyota Motor Corporation, strongly believed in the philosophy that “the ideal conditions for making things are created when machines, facilities, and people work together to add value without generating any waste.”

To make the manufacturing process strong and efficient, it must be constantly improved and all waste that is concealed inside the process eliminated. The methods and practices of the Lean Six Sigma methodology may be highly successful in improving the required levels of process performance in terms of product yields, capacity, and OTIF, while lowering the costs associated with poor quality.

Technological Focus:

Focusing on technology to minimize manual processes that may be automated would lessen the possibility of human mistake and increase productivity while enhancing operations. This may be accomplished by identifying opportunities through value stream mapping and removing causes of waste and delay in processes through new ideas and technological advancements.

Individual participation and engagement in a systematic problem-solving method is one of the main levers that help to continually improving processes and reaching excellence. A culture of cooperation, communication, and trust must underpin this.

Behavioral leadership

Culture building or behavioral leadership, in addition to operational leadership, is a pillar that supports Operational Excellence. It operates on the premise of "engage and involve," which means that it engages individuals from middle management to operator level and involves senior leadership in harmonizing the Operational Excellence strategy across the enterprise. Both a top-down and bottom-up strategy should be used.

The top-down approach supports Operational Excellence via strong vision and forward-thinking strategic planning, and it may be critical in identifying and implementing high-impact projects that are aligned with company goals. It may promote innovative thinking and the benchmarking of best practices while also fostering an organizational culture of reward and recognition.

Capability development and skill enhancement are also essential aspects of cultural leadership. Building and strengthening people's capacities through various training programs results in ongoing skill development and allows them to drive initiatives in a methodical manner. The bottom-up strategy may assist huge teams foster a culture of improvement and ownership. It might include programs such as Kaizen, Daily Management, 6S, and Asset Care to enhance process dependability and increase our capabilities in meeting diverse customer and regulatory compliance needs.

Organizations should take a comprehensive and encompassing approach to operational excellence, focusing on a system of excellence comprised of operational and cultural leadership backed by a strong, capability-building culture.

Execution - Running the Core

If the COO's mandate includes running the core of the operation, he or she will also be responsible for operational excellence and will be heavily involved in aligning the company's operational technology, technical systems, management systems, and organizational principles and behaviors with its purpose and strategy.

The "technical systems" are the people, methods, tools, and materials required to carry out the activity. As the person in charge of the operation's nuts and bolts, the COO must ensure that all pieces operate together to enable the company to deliver on its goal. This encompasses not just the "hard" parts of operations like equipment, inventories, and shipping, but also data management, digital enablement, and analytics.

Management systems are the means by which COOs and their staff monitor and organize activities. COOs require a thorough understanding of the forces behind desired outcomes, as well as the capacity to monitor and examine top-level data and go deeper into the core causes.

Organizational concepts and actions are both critical. The COO must set the tone while being in touch with the culture. The gemba walk, a traditional lean management approach in which executives spend time with employees to observe how work is done, provides a tremendous platform for engaging with the frontline.