The successful implementation of the

Abstract

Projects and project management are now in widespread use across the pharmaceutical industry. Project size can range from something as simple as sourcing and purchasing a new piece of office equipment to something as vast as building a 100,0 00m2 extension to an existing facility. However, the successful execution of a project can sometimes be an arduous task. A project must be perceived as important, it must be well defined and the context well understood. It must be planned with success in mind and similarly resourced. It must be led from the front by a Project Manager (PM) who is used to success. This work discusses the successful implementation of a matrix organisation project management model, i.e. the approach taken and the results achieved. The Wyeth Medica Ireland (WMI) oral contraceptive (OC) business generates ca. 200 million dollars net per annum in worldwide sales and is therefore an important product portfolio. The OC Recovery Project was initiated at WMI in order to rescue this multimillion-dollar business when it was unable to provide finished product to a large number of customers. In a defined timeframe of 12 months the Bulk Release Team succeeded in reducing a backlog of 32 out of stock (OOS) and 36 low stock (LS) markets to a situation where there were minimal OOS and LS markets. A number of other project teams (known as Tiger Teams) worked simultaneously with the Bulk Release Team to implement a process improvement and sustainability plan to help improve first time product quality and subsequently maintain customer service. The approach adopted by the OC Recovery Project was two-pronged. Firstly, the OOS markets were replenished through the action of the Bulk Release Team, and secondly, upon dissolution of this team, customer service was sustained through the process improvements made by the Tiger Teams. The matrix models that were employed in this process greatly facilitated these results.