How to drive efficiencies in pharma manufacturing, with Procter & Gamble

Ahead of his session at Pharma IQ Live: Pharma Manufacturing Automation 2022, Marc Winkelman, Global Director for IWS Manufacturing Excellence at Procter & Gamble, tells us how to ensure your manufacturing operations are as efficient as possible. 

Pharma IQ: What key challenges are pharmaceutical manufacturers facing right now?
Marc Winkelman: I think the challenges for pharma are the same as for all other manufacturing companies: how to be faster, better, cheaper, compliant and sustainable. Also retaining the people you have trained so well in your company to drive this operational excellence, to deliver supply chain results that beat the competition and have a thriving, extraordinary organization where people love to work. 

This is something we really saw during Covid-19. We trained our staff so well that with or without leadership on-site in P&G’s factories, they were able to continue running as before the pandemic restrictions. 

Pharma IQ: What actions can you take as a leader to ensure your manufacturing processes are efficient? 
MW: Our Integrated Work System (IWS) is a big operational program that started 30 years ago. Over time, it has evolved by using new methods and of course, digitization. What has not changed is the focus to make our operators the equipment owners, by really mastering the standards, their work processes and being responsible for day-to-day operational decision making and improvement processes. 

Pharma IQ: How are automation and other digital tools helping manufacturers meet today’s challenges? 
MW: Let’s start with the challenges. At P&G, the key challenge for us is to combine our daily predictable operational work with the projects that deliver continuous improvement. To combine those, you need to reduce your time spent on repetitive predictable events like changeovers, meetings and quality checking. By getting specific data on what the losses are you can focus people on working on those elements.  

Digitization plays a key role. We create extra time by reducing the effort to collect and process data, and we generate ideas for improvement by getting insights using big data. Artificial intelligence is a big trend, and it primarily addresses data analysis. But without the time and capability for people to do big data analysis and carry out the resulting continuous improvement activities, nothing will change. 

P&G’s IWS program is all about this, and that is why it is applicable to any organization in the world, as it is all about how to be organized to successfully deliver business results, which includes how we use digital solutions. 

Pharma IQ: How do you see automation and smart factories evolving in the next 3-5 years?
MW: Clearly, we will further develop towards smart factories. We need to do this to stay competitive and to attract and keep the future workforce. 

However, we should not forget that all the items we are using during this conversation, for example,  the PC, my camera, the seat I use, the table on which the PC sits, are all physical products made by people and equipment. Digital tools are important and can play a great supporting role to make those physical production processes more effective and efficient, but without the right foundations you cannot expect a great return on your digital investments. 

Quick links

• How to ensure the safe manufacturing, packaging and distribution of highly potent oncology drugs
• Digital transformation of MSD’s “plant-to-patient" supply chain
• How pre-qualified packaging increases speed-to-market for pharma products

Pharma IQ Live: Pharma Manufacturing Automation 2022 takes place on May 17. Catch Marc Winkelman’s session P&G’s Operational Excellence story – How we combine OPEX and DIGITAL to drive performance at 9 am EST (2 pm BST). Register for free here.