Building a tightly integrated supply chain is a strategic imperative for many pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers today. In some cases, the supply chain itself provides a competitive advantage, especially for market leaders who use hundreds of suppliers to produce 30% or more of their products.
Recalls over product defects are a major concern in many industries, often creating millions of dollars in costs and brand damage. Part of the problem is that so many companies don’t effectively integrate Risk Management into their processes, allowing small issues to persist unmanaged.
Fun at work can be elusive. Everyone has a job to do, and safety and quality are serious matters. Fun with sustainability may sound even more questionable. In fact, you probably think I’m about to launch into a list of ways you can repurpose your old yogurt containers. But I won’t bore you with tired ideas that sound like they came from someone’s third-grade art class. Instead, here 5 ways to make workplace sustainability fun, and not totally annoying.
Two things are true when it comes to making important decisions that impact your company. One, you need a way to quantify risk to make the best choice, and two, you need to be able to explain that choice.
Contract manufacturing is on the rise, with companies from Apple to Xerox outsourcing production of their branded products. The approach is associated with several benefits like reducing overall costs and allowing companies to concentrate on core strengths like product design and marketing.
When giving negative feedback, supervisors often rely on what’s called the “sandwich” technique. We’ve all seen it. The email that goes something like this: “Hi Joe, Thanks for the extra hours last week wrapping up that project. You’re a great team player, but I’m going to need you to go ahead and add more detail to your Job Safety Analyses (JSAs). Anyways, thanks for everything, we really appreciate it.
A survey published in Pharmaceutical Outsourcing magazine reveals growing demand for contract manufacturing in the pharmaceutical industry, with over 75% of respondents indicating that they outsourced the same or more than in previous years.
There are many challenges facing the biotech industry today. Many issues—like those discussed below—are more fundamental, requiring a proactive approach to meet them head-on.
Communication…it is the key to all relationships. Good communication can inspire partnership and trust. Bad communication can result in confusion and doubt. How you communicate both in your personal and professional life will determine how successful you are. There are a number of examples of how businesses have crumbled due to bad communication. Therefore, it is critical to consider how you are communicating with your external partners such as suppliers, co-packers and vendors, to ensure mutually beneficial, trusting and successful partnerships.
They call it the "elevator pitch". I find that kind of a silly notion, like you would be waiting in the lobby to ride the lift with any executive who pops in for work around 11am-ish. I would personally thinking you would come off a bit like a stalker, talking business when the guy is still on his first latte. I had a guy try to pitch to me in the bathroom once - it didn't go over well.
Last week, I took a lighter turn on things, talking about the lighter side of ISO. Some of the more interesting ISO standards out there, like shoe size, traffic lights, and snorkeling etiquette. I also posted a poll on the "state of the standards", and here are the results.
Last week, I spoke about how to set up a Risk Matrix and the considerations on how to determine risk scales. I mentioned how Risk methods provide the objectivity needed for many organizations, but a team is need to ultimately make the decision.
