Dear All,
I am handling a greenfield project for a leading Pharma Company. Our company is set to start a new manufacturing plant at a Special Economic Zone (SEZ). This project involves strategic HR planning. I am tasked with designing the job roles and conducting manpower planning. Construction work has been completed, so I need to prepare the report promptly.
Please advise me on the factors I should consider and the steps I should follow from start to finish. Your suggestions and responses are crucial to me.
With Thanks & Best Regards,
Naren
From India, Madras
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1I am handling a greenfield project for a leading Pharma Company. Our company is set to start a new manufacturing plant at a Special Economic Zone (SEZ). This project involves strategic HR planning. I am tasked with designing the job roles and conducting manpower planning. Construction work has been completed, so I need to prepare the report promptly.
Please advise me on the factors I should consider and the steps I should follow from start to finish. Your suggestions and responses are crucial to me.
With Thanks & Best Regards,
Naren
From India, Madras
Acknowledge(0)Amend(0)
Since you don't have much time, the best way to do the manpower planning is by consulting your functional HOD's/Incharge. Talk to each of the HOD's (start from Production dept., Dispatch/Stores, QA-QC, Engineering, Purchase/Commercial, etc.)
Start from the main department i.e. Production. Get to know the immediate production target (1-year) for each of the specific segments like Tablets-Capsules-Injectibles-Parenterals-etc and check it out from the HOD regarding the manhours required for achieving it, taking into consideration the available machinery. Also check for the number of shifts that the management wishes to run the manufacturing facility. It becomes easy then to calculate the number of people required to work on the machinery; & then the number of supervisor/s required to monitor them directly and so on and so forth. (Look if you are not sure, check it out from the HR personnel from your other existing manufacturing facilities whether they have done any time-and-motion studies for any specific departments/functions). That would be of great help.
Now, depending upon the production target, get to know from the HOD/Incharge, the speed of the packaging machine and the number of people required to get the material packed. Also get to know the assistance (quantitative & qualitative) he would require from QA-QC & Raw Material/Purchase/Commercial/Engineering Departments. Please ensure to note down everything systematically. Ensure that you have total clarity on all that you have noted down. If not, please consult the HOD-Production again. (I don't know whether you are going to manufacture API/Bulk Drug or Formulation at your new facility. Presuming that you are going to manufacture formulations, you will have to check what form of formulations you are going to make. If you are going to manufacture Tablet/Capsules as well as Parenterals, check whether you would be having separate HOD/Incharge or a single HOD for both of them. Accordingly, you will have to consult them)
Once this is done, arrange a meeting with all the HOD's/Incharge and discuss the Production Target and the support that the production dept. would be needing from the associated departments like QA-QC, Stores/Dispatch, Engineering, etc.
Once the QA-QC comes to know about the production cycle, they would be in a position to judge their role (quantitative & qualitative) and as to how frequent they would have to be involved and accordingly their HOD can give you the number of people he would be requiring in his team. Similarly, all the other functions can come out with their figure once the production target-process is made clear to them.
Now, I am very sure that few of the HOD's (for specific functions) would have been selected/shifted from your already existing facilities elsewhere. They would be quite experienced in their own functions & hence be of great help. So it won't take them much time to crack the ice.
Be careful about the Engineering dept. Get in only the minimal people initially and go on adding it as and when required. The same should be the case with the Purchase/Commercial dept. The ideal way is to put somebody from some other site/facility on deputation for a specific period (say 3 or 6 months) and once you get everything streamlined, he may be allowed to return.
Please remember that Pharma field is a technical field. You cannot do manpower planning all by your own. And there are every chance that you may end up overstaffing or getting wrong people in a hurry. So, always try and understand the genesis for the requirement. Get the HOD to fill in the JD/JS, at least for supervisory level and above. And that'll come up to your rescue in case you are questioned later on for overstaffing.
Oops! I forgot. There would be "Project Incharge/Leader" who would have been appointed well before the civil construction would have started and would have been involved in everything. Don't forget to keep him involved because he knows everything from the location to the installation of plant & machinery. Also, keep your Boss (or the top management) informed regarding the ongoing.
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Start from the main department i.e. Production. Get to know the immediate production target (1-year) for each of the specific segments like Tablets-Capsules-Injectibles-Parenterals-etc and check it out from the HOD regarding the manhours required for achieving it, taking into consideration the available machinery. Also check for the number of shifts that the management wishes to run the manufacturing facility. It becomes easy then to calculate the number of people required to work on the machinery; & then the number of supervisor/s required to monitor them directly and so on and so forth. (Look if you are not sure, check it out from the HR personnel from your other existing manufacturing facilities whether they have done any time-and-motion studies for any specific departments/functions). That would be of great help.
Now, depending upon the production target, get to know from the HOD/Incharge, the speed of the packaging machine and the number of people required to get the material packed. Also get to know the assistance (quantitative & qualitative) he would require from QA-QC & Raw Material/Purchase/Commercial/Engineering Departments. Please ensure to note down everything systematically. Ensure that you have total clarity on all that you have noted down. If not, please consult the HOD-Production again. (I don't know whether you are going to manufacture API/Bulk Drug or Formulation at your new facility. Presuming that you are going to manufacture formulations, you will have to check what form of formulations you are going to make. If you are going to manufacture Tablet/Capsules as well as Parenterals, check whether you would be having separate HOD/Incharge or a single HOD for both of them. Accordingly, you will have to consult them)
Once this is done, arrange a meeting with all the HOD's/Incharge and discuss the Production Target and the support that the production dept. would be needing from the associated departments like QA-QC, Stores/Dispatch, Engineering, etc.
Once the QA-QC comes to know about the production cycle, they would be in a position to judge their role (quantitative & qualitative) and as to how frequent they would have to be involved and accordingly their HOD can give you the number of people he would be requiring in his team. Similarly, all the other functions can come out with their figure once the production target-process is made clear to them.
Now, I am very sure that few of the HOD's (for specific functions) would have been selected/shifted from your already existing facilities elsewhere. They would be quite experienced in their own functions & hence be of great help. So it won't take them much time to crack the ice.
Be careful about the Engineering dept. Get in only the minimal people initially and go on adding it as and when required. The same should be the case with the Purchase/Commercial dept. The ideal way is to put somebody from some other site/facility on deputation for a specific period (say 3 or 6 months) and once you get everything streamlined, he may be allowed to return.
Please remember that Pharma field is a technical field. You cannot do manpower planning all by your own. And there are every chance that you may end up overstaffing or getting wrong people in a hurry. So, always try and understand the genesis for the requirement. Get the HOD to fill in the JD/JS, at least for supervisory level and above. And that'll come up to your rescue in case you are questioned later on for overstaffing.
Oops! I forgot. There would be "Project Incharge/Leader" who would have been appointed well before the civil construction would have started and would have been involved in everything. Don't forget to keep him involved because he knows everything from the location to the installation of plant & machinery. Also, keep your Boss (or the top management) informed regarding the ongoing.
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