How to stand out in managing a company? Lessons from those who received the covid vaccine

Surviving—let alone thriving—in a global manufacturing network is a constant concern for leaders at most factories. Every merger, acquisition or consolidation is a threat — especially for factories located in small, high-cost countries far from headquarters. Is there anything leaders can do to ensure the long-term survival of their units?

Senior executives at the Pfizer factory in Puurs, Belgium — one of two chosen by Pfizer in March 2020 to produce the Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA vaccine against Covid-19 — demonstrated that it did.

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The other choice, a plant in Kalamazoo, Michigan, was understandable: It was Pfizer’s largest plant in the United States. But among Pfizer’s 38 other factories around the world, why was the Puurs site tasked with this critical task?

To find the answers, we studied the plant for two years — from fall 2021 to fall 2023. With the full support of Pfizer’s senior management, we visited the site multiple times, interviewed its executives, reviewed relevant company documents, and consulted other published materials about Pfizer, the plant, and its production process.

It quickly became clear that the factory was chosen because it had demonstrated unique capabilities that set it apart. How its leaders developed these capabilities over the years is the focus of this article.

The trajectory of the Puurs plant

The factory was established in 1964 by Upjohn and changed hands several times before becoming part of Pfizer in 2000. Since then, it has survived several rounds of cuts, including a major one in 2010.

In the mid-2000s, senior management decided to change focus: instead of competing with other Pfizer factories for production volume (mainly reducing costs), it began to prioritize the development of distinct capabilities that differentiated it from others.

This required changing the prevailing mindset that a plant’s survival depended on having enough volume to keep the fixed cost per unit produced low. Less volume would mean higher total cost per unit, which could lead to the loss of even more volume to other factories.

Focusing on building distinct capabilities raised practical questions: How could local management identify which capabilities, suited to the plant, would be valuable to the company? How to develop them without compromising overall performance? And how to guarantee that Pfizer would actually use these capabilities when they were ready?

Puurs executives responded to these questions by following a patient approach, which took the factory through five steps:

Step 1: Improve operational excellence

Any factory that wants to stand out in a global network must first excel at internal operations — that is, show continuous improvement in basic metrics like quality, reliability, deliveries and cost efficiency. Operational excellence is the foundation on which the following four steps are built.

In the early 2000s, even as costs rose in Belgium, Puurs consistently demonstrated that it could reduce costs and maintain strict quality standards.

The plant adopted several lean practices, such as multifunctional teams, a focus on quality at each stage, the just-in-time method and the continuous improvement approach known as kaizen.

It reduced different types of waste and routinely increased the yield of various processes. The manager summarized: “We wanted to be economically efficient by being good.”

However, leadership believed that, although necessary, operational excellence was not sufficient to ensure long-term security. The plant also needed to develop distinct capabilities that would make it stand out within Pfizer’s manufacturing network.

Step 2: Improve capabilities to produce new products

Many managers are hesitant to take on the production of new and complex products. They prefer those already established, with high and predictable volumes. Uncertainties and extra costs associated with new products can harm plant performance and make it less competitive.

Becoming less competitive could result in the loss of product allocation to other factories in the global network, reducing volume, making it difficult to dilute fixed costs and further worsening competitiveness.

Therefore, there is typically competition for volume between plants when allocation decisions are made, and this was the pattern when Puurs joined Pfizer in the early 2000s.

However, at the beginning of 2004, the Puurs manager decided to make the plant more attractive to receive new products.

He believed this was a more robust strategy to ensure long-term survival than simply competing on volume.

Its logic was simple: when a new product was allocated to a plant, it normally remained there, as transferring it later would be difficult. This would shift the basis of competition from cost to production capacity and reliability.

He created a simple and smart strategy: invest heavily in an engineering team capable of working closely with equipment suppliers. This team allowed Puurs to begin commercial production of new products often months before other factories.

As the plant attracted new products, the size and role of this team grew, further accelerating and enhancing industrialization. The team worked with suppliers to customize machines and expanded the plant’s capacity to solve inevitable technical problems in the first production cycles.

Over time, the team grew further, culminating in the creation of a “pilot plant” in Puurs.

Functioning as an applied R&D unit, it focused on solving technical problems in the final stages of new product development and designing new processes.

Initially focused on Puurs products, it later started to support other plants as well.

The creation of the pilot plant was a milestone: it signaled that Puurs had become a knowledge center within Pfizer’s global network.

Step 3: Specialize

Pfizer makes a wide range of medicines — from simple pills like Advil to complex biologics. No plant can be excellent at everything. To become a center of expertise, a factory needs to focus on a specific type of product.

Deciding what to specialize in is not easy. Local managers need to look for opportunities, but they also need approval from headquarters. Specializing in complex products is even more difficult. It requires large investments in equipment and training, therefore it depends on corporate support.

For Puurs, the opportunity arose in the mid-2000s. Pfizer was reorganizing its global network and, together with local management, decided that Puurs would specialize in aseptic production of sterile products — one of the most complex processes in the pharmaceutical industry. Without a doubt, the strong engineering team was decisive in the choice.

Puurs’ management embraced the opportunity, even though it required a difficult concession: transferring production of several high-volume products to other plants, abruptly reducing their output.

Some managers were worried. As one recalled: “We needed volume to keep the machines running and justify investments. But we also agreed that we needed focus and to build unique capabilities. This motivated us. We believed that the more difficult the challenge, the more we would learn, improve and secure the future of the plant.”

Step 4: Increase responsiveness

Every factory seeks to be responsive while maximizing capacity utilization. However, Puurs’ leadership decided to deliberately maintain a moderate amount of excess capacity.

This would allow you to respond more quickly to disruptions and spikes in demand, experiment with new processes and seize opportunities.

An executive explained: “Over the past 10 years, we have regularly expanded our capacity—often before demand has really grown. This has allowed us to react quickly to new challenges and scale when necessary. It has also made us more flexible in production, packaging and delivery in uncertain times.”

Implementing this policy required more than equipment: it required flexible systems, cross-functional teams and agile planning.

The benefits of this reserve capacity, although difficult to measure, can outweigh the costs—especially when a plant attempts to build unique capabilities. But determining the right level takes time, testing, and firm leadership. In Puurs, this strategy was vital to unleash and demonstrate its capabilities.

Step 5: Build a knowledge network

When Pfizer chose Puurs to manufacture the vaccine against Covid-19, it was still in clinical trials. The task was gigantic: new product, unprecedented technology outside the laboratory and billions of doses urgently needed.

Both the vaccine and the process would require adjustments even after large-scale production begins. As one executive described it: “We were asked to make the impossible possible.”

By the end of December 2020, just five months into demand, the plant was already shipping massive volumes globally. At the beginning of 2021, it was producing more than 100 million doses per month; weeks later, that number doubled. In December 2022, Pfizer announced a new investment of €1.2 billion in the unit.

After being chosen, Puurs expanded her external connections. The first group included experts in new technologies needed for this type of vaccine.

For example, the plant sought guidance from experts in deep-freezing supply chains — essential for distributing mRNA vaccines at -75°C.

Some of these experts came from completely different sectors, such as a Japanese company specializing in transporting frozen tuna. Developing internal expertise allowed us to support not only Puurs, but other plants as well.

The second group included critical suppliers, such as lipids, an essential ingredient. Small batch variations affected potency. Puurs technicians worked with a key supplier to create a system that improved consistency through real-time data. The knowledge obtained was shared with other plants.

To spread this knowledge, Puurs created new internal channels. It began sending technicians to other units — sometimes for weeks — to support the construction of cold systems or resolve problems such as low yields of sterile injectables.

These exchanges further strengthened Puurs and raised its prestige. As one executive said: “Initially there was skepticism. They said you’re only a leader when others come to learn from you. We realized we needed to facilitate that.”

Standing out in a global network of factories is difficult. But it can be a robust path to ensuring long-term survival. If a plant develops and is recognized for unique capabilities, it is less likely to be closed during periods of restructuring or difficulties. Factories in high-cost environments and far from headquarters, such as Puurs, are particularly vulnerable. But the Belgian plant shows that it is possible.