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insights LIFESCIENCELEADER.COM PHARMA MANUFACTURING JUNE 2014 56 Learn more about Tria OA solutions at CRFHEALTH.COM With Tria OA solutions, it's never been faster or easier to collect Clinical Outcome Assessments. Allston Landing, whether it is the need to add more products or a combination of technological, social, and regulatory changes. Genzyme wants to prevent his- tory from repeating. As Poole sees it, increased complexity is inevitable. What matters is how a plant copes. "Companies that develop the abil- ity to really understand and master this complexity, to be able to anticipate and adapt to all these forces of change, and reorganize themselves after a significant disruption will really have a huge competi- tive advantage," she says. Tests of whether the lessons learned at Allston Landing have helped Genzyme master complexity await. If Allston Landing continues its revival, it may one day be presented with opportuni- ties that could introduce further complex- ity. However, considering the journey the site has been on, it would be much bet- ter positioned to handle this complexity. Poole's objective is to ensure the rest of the sites within the Genzyme biologics net- work benefit from the Allston experience. THE METRICS TO TRACK TO FORESEE DECLINE Genzyme's plant in Belgium, which Poole led before moving back to the United States to manage the crisis, is at a stage of development comparable to Allston Landing in the early 2000s. The site has available capacity and infrastructure, but Genzyme is still determined to learn from its past experience in Allston. Poole says, "We're having very thoughtful conversa- tions about the Allston Landing experi- ence and asking, 'How do we know the Belgian site is capable enough to han- dle increased complexity before we introduce it?'" If the process is handled well, Poole sees no reason the Belgian plant will suffer as a result of the increased complexity. The trick is to match the plant's competence and capabilities to the new level of com- plexity. This means helping the leader- ship understand the new system and their teams' roles within it, instead of just add- ing staff and equipment and expecting the rest of the site to carry on as before. "It's when you add products and increase com- plexity without taking into consideration all parts of the system — including people Pat O'Sullivan, has continued running the change leadership program and smaller action-learning gatherings. In her new role of senior vice president, biologics manufacturing at Genzyme, Poole is tasked with taking the lessons learned at Allston Landing and replicating them across the production network. The work has its origins in the early days of the Allston Landing crisis when Genzyme's leadership decided to use the problems as the trigger for a companywide transfor- mation. Other production plants through- out the industry face pressures similar to HOW GENZYME GOT ITS MANUFACTURING MOJO BACK By N. Taylor 0 6 1 4 _ P h a r m a _ M a n u f a c t u r i n g _ G e n z y m e . i n d d 3 0614_Pharma_Manufacturing_Genzyme.indd 3 5 / 2 1 / 2 0 1 4 1 1 : 5 6 : 4 5 A M 5/21/2014 11:56:45 AM