iSpeak Blog

Beyond the Podium: Insights from Two #ISPEFoF 2024 Keynote Speakers

Michael Martin
Beyond the Podium

The 2024 ISPE Facilities of the Future Conference brings more than 130 years of experience and insights from the six keynote speakers alone. GSK’s Carlos Santiago and Genentech’s Christian Randecker provided preliminary insights into what Facility/Factory and Workforce of the Future means to them as well as their greatest successes and challenges as they prepare their teams for that future. See what they said below for an insight into the different experiences each keynote brings to this conference. We look forward to seeing you 29-30 January in San Francisco, CA or virtually to hear from our speakers as we all navigate what’s next.

What does factory/facility of the future and/or workforce of the future mean to you?

Workforce of the Future means developing the right skills and capabilities within your team to ensure they can be successful against the challenges ahead. A lot of what we do is focused on problems happening in the moment. Ensuring your workforce is equipped to handle the challenges the near future will bring are critical.

What has been your greatest success and/or greatest challenge when preparing your team(s) and organization for that vision?

My greatest challenge has been bringing them along the journey so that they can see what’s coming. Why should they be worried about something that might or might not happen in 3-5 years when they have a number of issues now. There are a number of reasons why they hesitate; lack of time, budget or resources.

What additional thoughts or comments do you wish to include? Feel free to tease your presentation topic to excite attendees.

Really looking forward to presenting our Cambridge project at the ISPE Facilities of the Future conference. Sharing our approach to bringing the workplace of the future experience into a Research setting.

2024 ISPE Facilities of the Future Conference

What does factory/facility of the future and/or workforce of the future mean to you?

Facilities of the future should challenge the standards we have leveraged for a long time. With so much change in the industry flexibility and adaptability are becoming more critical design factors. The workforce of the future should similarly adjust to match the facilities with new capabilities and better alignment between structure and activities/work packages. The culture developed at a new facility plays a huge role in being able to meet new expectations. Organizations should prepare for these new demands with teams that are comfortable with ambiguity, have an entrepreneurial spirit, and leverage servant leadership.

What has been your greatest success and/or greatest challenge when preparing your team(s) and organization for that vision?

By being up front in our hiring process and seeding our initial team with people that had this mentality we were able to generate a culture that was resilient and capable of handling a variety of unforeseen challenges. It's inspiring to see a team take the vision, own it, adapt it and generate a result better than what you could have planned.

It has been challenging though having so much ambiguity in some of our roles. As work increases there are tendencies by results oriented people to just take on more work. The ability to manage and distribute constantly changing deliverables can be very difficult, especially within a flat organization. Developing processes and systems early on to handle greater diversity in a team's work plate can be valuable.

Additional thoughts or comments you wish to include? Feel free to tease your presentation to excite attendees.

The intersection between facility design and organization design shouldn't be overlooked. There are really great opportunities for one to influence the other. In my talk I will discuss how we used Senior Management expectations of the organization to inform our facility design in the Clinical Supply Center in South San Francisco.

Learn More & Register

Additional keynote speakers from Takeda, Moderna, and the FDA will share their thoughts and illuminate the path forward at this year's Facilities of the Future Conference. Delve into transformative insights, from harnessing data and digital advancements to embracing sustainability imperatives. Explore the pivotal role of the workforce in shaping tomorrow while recognizing the invaluable contributions of Women in Pharma® at our Executive Forum Dinner and Panel Discussion. Join us in San Francisco, CA, or virtually, on 29-30 January as we navigate the evolving landscape of industry innovation, guided by the wisdom of our esteemed speakers.