When pharmaceutical manufacturers need additional capacity, the immediate response is often to add more people. But increasing headcount alone does not guarantee stronger productivity, better quality or more reliable operational performance.
In a recent PharmaSource podcast, Catalyx leaders Aisling Flanagan, Global SVP of Professional and Managed Services, and Mike Barrett, Director of Sales and Operations for the UK and Europe, explore a different approach: moving beyond traditional staff augmentation towards a managed workforce model built around capability, accountability and measurable outcomes.
Start With the Outcome, Not the Headcount
The most important question is not simply how many people are needed. It is what the operation needs to achieve.
A manufacturer may need to increase production, provide ongoing support for certain systems, or strengthen a particular technical capability. Adding contractors can help address an immediate gap, but the manufacturer often remains responsible for integrating those individuals, managing their training and performance, covering absences, and ensuring the work delivers the intended result.
An outcome-led model begins by defining the service, capacity, quality standards and KPIs required. The delivery partner then takes responsibility for planning and managing the workforce needed to achieve them.
This changes the conversation from whether a certain number of people arrived on site to whether the operation met its agreed productivity, quality, safety and compliance targets.
“The unit of purchase changes from buying people to buying capability, and that’s where you start to get far more value for your spend.” — Aisling Flanagan
Build Capability and Continuity, not Just Access to Talent
Finding skilled people is only the beginning. In pharmaceutical manufacturing, employees may require months of site-specific and GMP training before they can contribute at their full potential. When turnover is high, organisations lose that investment along with valuable operational knowledge.
Catalyx focuses on creating continuity by directly employing most of the people deployed through its managed services, investing in GMP training and giving employees opportunities to develop their careers across areas such as packaging, manufacturing, validation, quality and warehousing.
This approach helps customers retain knowledge and build a more capable workforce over time. It also gives employees a clearer development path, strengthening engagement and reducing the disruption caused by repeated recruitment and retraining.
The right measures are essential. Depending on the service, KPIs might include production output, right-first-time quality, SOP completion, training currency, safety performance, schedule adherence, vacancy coverage and continuous improvement commitments. These measures keep the focus on what the operation genuinely needs to achieve.
Create Clear Accountability for Delivery
Traditional staff augmentation can leave a significant management burden with the customer. Operational leaders may find themselves coordinating contractors, monitoring training records, responding to vacancies and managing several different suppliers, taking time away from quality, throughput and continuous improvement.
A managed model establishes a clearer division of responsibility. The customer retains strategic control, quality oversight and governance, while the delivery partner takes greater ownership of recruitment, onboarding, training, workforce continuity and day-to-day performance.
The podcast also considers the hidden complexity created by fragmented supplier models. Sourcing specialists from several providers may produce attractive individual rates, but the responsibility for bringing those resources together still sits with the manufacturer.
This does not mean relying automatically on a single supplier. It means working with a smaller group of strategic partners that have a meaningful stake in delivery. Clearer ownership can simplify governance, improve performance visibility and ensure that escalations and improvement commitments have an accountable owner.
Start with a Measurable Opportunity and Scale What Works
An outcome-led model will not be appropriate for every activity. Organisations should retain the capabilities that hold strategic knowledge or provide a competitive advantage.
The strongest opportunities are usually services with sufficient scale, stable demand, clear operational boundaries and measurable performance requirements.
Catalyx works with customers to identify a suitable function or site, define what successful delivery looks like and establish the necessary governance and KPIs. Starting with a focused pilot allows the model to be tested and refined before it is expanded. Growth should follow evidence -not outsourcing for its own sake.
Listen to the Full Conversation
Moving from headcount to outcomes is about more than changing a contract. It is about creating clearer accountability, protecting workforce knowledge and giving operational leaders more time to focus on performance, quality and improvement.
Listen to Aisling and Mike’s conversation with PharmaSource to learn where an outcome-led workforce model can add value, what manufacturers should measure and how to begin building a more capable, consistent and resilient operation.
▶ Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7Qu0xGbM4c
About Catalyx
Catalyx specializes in AI-powered machine vision, process and packaging automation, and professional and managed services for life sciences and other highly regulated industries. With over 30 years of experience and more than 3,000 projects delivered globally, Catalyx helps manufacturers reduce downtime, improve compliance, and accelerate production performance in GMP environments. For more information, visit www.catalyx.ai.