Bachem celebrates Innovation Award Winners

Bubendorf, Switzerland: – The leading CDMO Bachem AG has celebrated winners of its annual Bachem Innovation Award that recognizes employees who make an impact by challenging the status quo and suggesting innovative ideas.

The Bachem Innovation Awards 2023 took place at all Bachem locations worldwide and recognized outstanding innovative contributions from employees in all fields of the business.

Innovation Management at Bachem

Bachem actively supports innovation in its people, recognizing that breakthroughs can come from any level of the organization. Its innovation management system ensures promising ideas are implemented swiftly, minimizing bureaucratic hurdles maximizing impact.

The awards recognize ideas in three categories that make up this Innovation management model:

• The Edge: Technology management that ensures manufacturing leadership.
• The Enabler: Business Process Engineering to implement more efficient processes.
• The Base: Continuous Improvement to increase efficiency in daily work.

Voices from The Base

Bachem asked the latest Award winners what innovation means to them and what motivates them to strive for excellence every day.

From the first-placed Base winners, Daniel Pfeffer, Director of Oligo Production II at Bachem Bubendorf in Switzerland gave this advice to colleagues on how to be more innovative:

“You should think outside the box, collaborate across teams to bring in different perspectives, be entrepreneurial in your day-to-day responsibilities, and advocate for the freedom to explore and implement innovative ideas within your organization.”

As an example of his team’s contribution to innovation, another Base winner, Jonas Groos, Senior Group Leader Oligo at Bubendorf, cited the example of the development and implementation of a new packing process for IEX columns, which allowed faster and more reliable preparation of the columns for the campaign. This new protocol has reduced the number of repackages needed to zero in 2023.

The final first-place in the Base category went to Stefan Marschner, Group Leader Product Steward Oligo, at Bubendorf, who reflected on how his personal interests contributed to innovation:

“I am a passionate player of board and card games, including (or especially) those with a high degree of complexity. In such games, skillful resource management is usually the key. You have to choose the right strategy with the given resources and know all your options. I love delving into different strategies, weighing their strengths and weaknesses, and sometimes thinking outside the box.”

Voices of Enablers

The Enabler category targets business processes with strategic reach that operate across departments and sites, where improvements can have enormous impact.

Among the Enabler winners, Christoph Erni, Vice President Materials Management at Bubendorf, said Lean Six Sigma training had been a huge help.

“One of the most significant takeaways from my Lean Six Sigma training is the importance of understanding value from the customer’s perspective, be it internal or external. This understanding has allowed me to identify deviations from the actual process, enabling me to fulfil requirements almost flawlessly, completely, and profitably.”

Fellow first placed Enabler Stefan Stadie, Senior Group Leader Tankfarm & Waste Management at Bubendorf, advised colleagues to be curious and open to new ideas:

“Be willing to think outside the box and explore new perspectives. Be curious about your field’s latest technologies, trends, and best practices,” advised Stefan.

This was backed up by advice from Laure Deslarzes, Category Manager, at Vionnaz, who said: Innovation and new ideas/solutions are everywhere. We need to challenge our daily work. Very often, a way of doing things is no longer appropriate!”

Voices from The Edge

The Edge category focuses on expanding Bachem technological leadership in constantly looking for new technologies and implementing them in effective ways.

First placed in this category was Marco Minuth, Director Oligonucleotides at Bubendorf, who said innovation was also about determination.

“Keep an open mind and challenge how things are done if you see potential for improvement. If you have an idea, be persistent, speak up, and discuss it with your colleagues,” said Marco,

About Bachem

Bachem is a leading, innovation-driven company specializing in the development and manufacture of peptides and oligonucleotides. The company, which has over 50 years of experience and expertise, provides products for research, clinical development, and commercial application to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies worldwide and offers a comprehensive range of services.

Bachem operates internationally with headquarters in Switzerland and locations in Europe, the US and Asia. The company is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange.

For further information, see www.bachem.com

Resources

Click on Voices on Bachem’s Innovation Culture for further information.
Click on Innovation at Bachem to learn more.
Click on Bachem Innovation for Tides to download brochure.
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