BIOPHARM – From Performance to Excellence: Operational Excellence at the Heart of the Modern Pharmaceutical Industry

Equitable access to medicines is a key concern for public health. In order to address this challenge, we need to be excellent in production. Indeed, ensuring that we manufacture our products quickly, efficiently and to the highest quality is at the heart of the mission of BIOPHARM, the national leader in generic medicines. 

This year, we were honoured to receive the International Award for Excellence in the Manufacture of Generic Medicines. 

Beyond this distinction, this achievement is the result of all the work we have put in place since 2018 to improve our manufacturing processes and to pursue our strive for excellence.

2018: Triggering a Sustainable Transformation

In 2018, BIOPHARM took a new turn: faced with a rapidly changing environment, BIOPHARM made a major decision to completely overhaul its industrial organisation. To do this, Biopharm direction called in experts, the McKinsey consultancy, which supported the BIOHARM teams in an intensive programme called ‘Boost’.

Thanks to this partnership, many ‘classic’ opportunities for progress were revealed: simplifying processes to make them more efficient, reducing waste, defining better everyone’s roles, and improving skills across the organisation. Above all, however, the Biopharm Industrie teams realised that the future competitiveness of our industry depended less on the volume of investments than on the ability of our teams to work together and improve collectively.

This strategic shift is laying the foundations for a new way for operations, one that is more agile, more focused on added value and, above all, more participative. Excellence is no longer dictated; it must be built, lived and shared by all managers and employees.

2019: Creation of a department dedicated to Operational Excellence

Following this first step, BIOPHARM has decided to establish Lean as a long-term approach. In 2019, an Operational Excellence Department has been created, with the mission of bringing the organisational transformation to life on a daily basis. 

This department is unique in its approach: neither prescriptive nor centralising, it acts as a facilitator. It trains, supports and leads teams according to common standards while adapting to the realities of each site. It instils a culture of continuous improvements, which is both meaningful and results-oriented.

Over the years, this department has become a catalyst for progress, a melting pot for functional and cross-functional initiatives and a link between the company’s strategy and the realities on the ground.

The 5 Pillars of our Operational Excellence

To structure this approach, BIOPHARM relies on five strategic levers. 

1. Lean culture and development of skills

Transformation starts with the people who make up the company. An ambitious training plan was launched in the early stages. Employees at all levels have been trained in the fundamentals of Lean:

• Lean basics to reinforce the culture of operational excellence.
• Problem solving to eliminate recurring problems.
• The first pillar of TPM (Total Productive Maintenance) is to anchor the spirit of analysis and targeted improvement of production processes.
• Streamlining workflows to detect bottlenecks and eliminate waste.

Thanks to over 3,700 hours of training given to more than 400 employees, our teams have acquired the Lean tools and reflexes. Over and above their know-how, they have developed a common language, a posture of anticipation rather than reaction, and pride in their profession.

Each training course becomes a lever for emulation, supported by an internal process for certifying referents and specialising in Lean tools. Beyond the simple transmission of skills, this approach is transforming the mindset and is anchoring the powerful idea and reality that everyone is a player in the performance of the team and the company to which they belong.

2. Agile and Autonomous Organisation

BIOPHARM has also reviewed its operational structure to promote agility. This is reflected in particular in:

• Cascading field rituals, such as the AICs (Animations à Intervalles Courts), anchored at every level of the organisation. Today, around 40 AICs are held simultaneously at all sites, enabling 80% of day-to-day problems to be resolved, team involvement to be strengthened and continuous improvement to be driven by the people on the ground.
• Appointing referents for each tool has enabled us to have genuine local correspondents in order to drive the improvement. These managers lead multi-disciplinary teams in charge of specific projects (problem solving, reducing format changeover times, etc.).

This approach has helped to break down silos and promote collective intelligence. Each player becomes a contributor, a bearer of solutions and a co-designer of progress.

3. Structured and transparent communication

We have also set up a communication system designed to highlight the achievements and successes of the Operational Excellence approach and to increase ownership of the approach internally, with:

• Visual communication tools, such as tables, screens and dynamic indicators.
• Targeted communication to share successes, in particular messages coming directly from the people who have contributed to improvements.

In this way, transparency is not just a tool for coordination; it becomes a lever for trust and enables each employee to better understand his or her contribution to the wider system.

4. Active involvement and valuation of employees

As sustainable performance depends on the support of our teams, BIOPHARM has implemented a strong involvement policy with:

• A structured system of Field Tours, in conjunction with teams working on site 
• Systematic recognition of initiatives through internal trophies, recognition rituals, and the monthly spotlighting of an exemplary employee designated “employee of the month”.

These initiatives have fostered the emergence of innovative solutions, individual commitment and a sense of belonging to a high-performance team. They also help to «invert the pyramid», making every initiative a source of progress. Innovation doesn’t just come from the top to the bottom; it now takes place as close to the ground as possible.

5. Visual management and dynamic KPIs

Finally, BIOPHARM has strengthened its visual management system. Each zone has clear dashboards, incorporating:

• Performance indicators to ensure adherence to our objectives: safety, quality, deadlines and controlled costs.
• Ongoing actions and improvement plans based on an in-depth analysis of the root causes of problems and poor performance.

These tools encourage greater accountability, a shared understanding of discrepancies, and a dynamic alignment with strategic priorities. They enable rapid, shared decision-making and anchor performance in actions. 

Tangible results  demonstrating our high level of maturity 

Thanks to these five pillars, BIOPHARM has made significant progress on all its key indicators:

• Improved OEE, with a gain of, at least, 3 points on several critical lines, resulting in significant improvements in productivity and volumes without additional investment, a reduction in losses and more robust operations.
• 20% reduction in procurement lead time;
• 23% reduction in new product development lead time.

These achievements are the results of a genuine organisational transformation and are driven by a real collective dynamic.

They also reflect a deep change in the way we think about performance: performance is becoming more participative, is based on figures and fact-based analyses, and above all, it is becoming more sustainable.

Conclusion: A Culture Lived  on a daily basis

Operational Excellence at BIOPHARM is neither a fad nor a fixed method. It’s a living, demanding culture that drives improvements in decisions, behaviours and results.

It is also an approach that works towards fulfilling BIOPHARM’s commitment to society: guaranteeing every patient fair, reliable and lasting access to effective treatments. 

Finally, it is a human adventure, in which performance is the fruit of collective intelligence.