Session ID:

VS2-06

nu Intermediate/Advanced

Agile Research - Creating a science of innovation improvement
Inoculating pharmaceutical research by tailoring Lean Product Development to the laboratory environment

Gaining traction for Lean within a research and development environment presents two distinct challenges. The first challenge is to find a way to overcome the tightly held belief that innovation is a product of pure inspiration, and therefore cannot be accelerated. The second major challenge is to create a way to insert Lean Research into an organization without triggering the organizations “immune response” to change. Although tightly linked, these two problems require fundamentally distinct approaches to tailoring Lean Product Development into the language, culture and history of scientific research, and creating a company-specific strategy to engage scientific colleagues in the science of improvement. Examples of triumphs and pitfalls on the way to the successful initiation of a Lean Research initiative will serve to illustrate key opportunities for others wishing to travel a similar road.

Pfizer Inc. is a research-based pharmaceutical company that helps treat over 38 million patients around the world. Pfizer Global R&D is a multi-billion dollar enterprise engaging over 12,000 medical researchers in the development of breakthrough treatments to fight disease and illness.

Dr. Terence M. Barnhart, Director of Strategic Management

As a Director of Strategic Management, Dr. Barnhart helps senior leaders at Pfizer Global R&D develop strategies to enhance the productivity of PGRD’s $5.5 Billion dollar research enterprise. As a research scientist and efficiency expert, he has spent considerable time in adapting Lean Product Development theory and practice to the pharmaceutical research environment. He holds a PhD in chemistry, received Six Sigma Black Belt training from General Electric Corporate R&D, and has been implementing process-related improvements, both formally and informally, within the research environment since the mid-1980s.