Himanshu Parikh, Vice President of Manufacturing Operations at Roche Tissue Diagnostics, believes that manufacturing leaders must think globally but act locally. They must also embrace emerging technologies like the Internet of Things. Parikh is leading a global initiative called OEE to optimize the utilization of manufacturing assets and increase efficiency. He thinks the greatest opportunities for manufacturers will be to capitalize on technological developments and implement tools to improve operations using the Internet of Things.

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www.ManufacturingLeadershipCommunity.com
FindingtheCouragetobeBold
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Himanshu Parikh, Vice President of Manufacturing Operations at Roche Tissue Diagnostics,
says manufacturing leaders must think globally, act locally, and embrace the Internet of Things.
The Council Forum /Himanshu Parikh
MANUFACTURING
LEADERSHIP JOURNAL
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Q. What is your role
and focus at your com-
pany?
Iamchargedwithensuringwebuild
qualityproductsontimeandatthe
lowestpossiblecosttomeetcustomer
requirements.Myfocusistocontinue
tooptimizeoperationalefficienciesus-
ingLeanSigmatools.
Q. What is the most
pressing issue facing
the manufacturing
industry today?
Oneof themostpressingissuesiscost
pressure.Medicaldevice/instrument
companieshavetoinvestsignificantly
inrobustresearchanddevelop-
menttobringregulatorycompliant
productstothemarket.Theever-
changinggeo-politicallandscape
andincreasinginternationalregula-
tionaddtothecomplexityandcost.
Competitionfromcompaniesinlow
costcountriesalsoaddstothechal-
lenge,astheyhavetheabilitytobring
productstomarketmustfasterand
lessexpensively,withoutmanyof the
requiredregulatoryhurdles.
Q. What is the most
important corpo-
rate initiative you
are involved in at the
moment?
Iamleadingaglobalinitiativecalled
OEE–OptimumEquipmentEffec-
tiveness–inwhichwearelookingat
currentutilizationof allourassets,
determiningcontributingfactorsfor
poorperformance,identifyingsolu-
tionstoincreaseutilization,etc.
Q. What will be the
most important lead-
ership qualities to pos-
sess in the future?
Thinkglobally,actlocally.Nowand
inthefuture,leadersmusthaveglobal
mindsetstodevelopandoptimizetheir
manufacturingnetworks.Wecur-
rentlybuildmanyof ourinstruments
andassayslocally,yetwealsorelyon
avarietyof FDA-approvedpartsand
substancesfromaglobalnetwork
of suppliersandoriginalequipment
manufacturers.Thisnetworkispartof
aglobaldistributionstrategy,aligned
withprocurement,whichensureswe
candeliverourproductsontimeand
atareasonablecost. Manufacturing
leadersof thefuturewillalsoneedto
beagile,technologysavvy,andhavethe
couragetobebold.Mostimportantly,
they’llneedtobeleaderswhocan
alwaysexplainthe“why”toalllevels
withintheirorganizations.
Q. What will be the
greatest opportunities
for manufacturers over
the next five years?
Weareinthedigitalage,andevery-
thingrevolvesaroundtheInternetof
Things.Thegreatestopportunityfor
manufacturerswillbetocapitalize
ontechnologicaldevelopmentandto
implementappropriatetoolstoim-
proveoperationalefficiency.
Q. What is your favor-
ite activity outside of
work or the last book
you read?
IamcurrentlyreadingLeader-
ship2030byGeorgVielmetter&
YvonneSell.Thisbooktalksabout
sixmegatrendsandgivesinsightinto
futureleadershipattributesneeded
tobesuccessful.Leaderswillneedto
shiftfrombeingegocentrictobeing
altrocentric,withawidevarietyof
competenciesandfocusondiversity
of employeesandconsumers.I’mup
forthechallenge.
HimanshuParikh
Company:RocheTissueDiagnostics;
Size:1,500employees;
Industry:Medicaldiagnosticsystems
andbiopsy-basedteststoimprovethe
livesofallcancerpatients;
Website:http://www.ventana.com/