Striving for Operational Excellence in the Pharmaceutical Industry

Thomas Friedli is Director of the Institute of Production and Supply Chain Management and Professor for production management at the University of St.Gallen (Switzerland). His main research interests are in the field of managing global production, operational excellence, and industrial services.Jim Cafone, Senior Vice President, Global Supply Chain at Pfizer Inc., has been with the company since 2010. He oversees global demand forecasting, supply planning, logistics, and inventory management. Previously, he held various roles at Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, including Vice President positions. Jim holds degrees in Industrial Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Technology Management.Matteo Bernasconi is a senior data scientist at AbbVie. He holds a PhD degree in Management from the University of St.Gallen (Switzerland) and has experience in working on research projects for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. His research has been focusing on preventive quality risk management and data-driven decision-making.Fabian Klinkner worked as a Research Associate and Post Doc at the Institute of Technology Management (ITEM-HSG), University of St.Gallen (Switzerland) coordinating the Operational Excellence team. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of St.Gallen as well as an M.Sc. in Industrial Engineering and Management from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT, Germany).

• Part 1: The Rise of OPEX in the Pharmaceutical Industry.- OPEX 2026: A Definition.- Triggers and Forces: Past and Current Situation.- Reassessing the State of Pharmaceutical OPEX: A (R)evolution in Figures.- Reinventing OPEX In Pfizer: Why and how we did it.- Part 2: Learnings from two Decades of OPEX Research.- OPEX Programs: The Phenomenon.- OPEX Programs: Measuring and Improving Results.- OPEX Programs: Network-level Rollout.- Towards a Better Understanding of What Really Makes the Difference Lead it or Leave it.- OPEX and Quality: One Path to Excellence Reconciling OPEX and Digital.- Continuous Improvement in Regulated Industries.- Quality First: Regulatory and Industry Collaborations in Pharmaceutical Manufacturing.- Part 3: How it Looks in the Field.- Culture as the Engine of Patient-Focused Excellence Linking Culture and Behaviors to the Essence of Work.- OPEX in Pfizer Global Supply (PGS).- OPEX Needs an Upgrade: Reinventing OPEX in the Age of Digital/AI OPEX Leadership Lessons.- Beyond Distance, Towards Excellence: Leading OPEX Programs in Dispersed Teams.- “Execution Excellence” Demonstrated by Boehringer Ingelheim BioPharma RCV – Vienna/Austria.- OEE Improvement in Sterile Operations of Dechra Pharmaceuticals.- Data Analytics as an Enabler of Quality and OPEX in the Pharmaceutical Supply Chain.- Unlocking Business Value Through Quality Management System Transformation.- The 6 Traits of Quality Business Leadership.- OPEX & System Engineering – Advancing Healthcare through the End-to-End Supply Chain Management.- Part 4: Conclusions from the Book.- What Are Deep Structures?.- Towards Deep Structures.