PBN Manufacturing Awards 2024
OVERALL EXCELLENCE AT AN ENTERPRISE MANUFACTURER: Amgen Rhode Island
CONTINUING TO FOSTER its vibrant culture and develop talent remains a high priority at Amgen Rhode Island.
Brian Britson, vice president of site operations at the West Greenwich facility who oversees all activities at the campus, says staff are cross-trained in different areas and the company schedules staff to work where they are most needed.
“Our culture embodies a relentless focus on safety,” Britson said. “It outlines the execution mindset, and prioritization of safety, quality, execution excellence and continuous improvement we expect from everyone working at [Amgen].”
Amgen manufactures the protein therapeutic Enbrel and other commercial products that can be used to treat patients with serious illnesses. Amgen medications help patients worldwide, including in Egypt, Jordan and Bulgaria.
Shana Mancinho, Amgen’s corporate affairs lead, says the company refers to its culture as “every action, every time.” The purpose of that mantra is for each employee to hold themselves and each other accountable for remaining safe on-site, she says.

Amgen focuses on ensuring employee safety at manufacturing sites, as well as throughout the company.
The West Greenwich facility emphasizes operating principles by way of peer coaching. Amgen, Mancinho says, has also implemented a procedure in which employees point out safety risks and help implement improvements.
“It fostered this culture of candor, and that has made such a huge difference at the site because staff members feel free to raise their hands and address issues that maybe otherwise wouldn’t have been addressed,” she said.
Amgen’s local operations also reduced ergonomic risk by making sure staff members have the correct ergonomic tools to maintain good posture, she said. The additional tools have had a positive impact on employees.
“We’ve continued to find ways to deliver outstanding performance, specifically for safety, quality and, very importantly, output,” Mancinho said. “Increasing our capacity here at the site to be able to create more medicines to serve more patients, that is really what we’re known for here at Amgen Rhode Island.”
Mancinho says Amgen focuses on four different therapeutic areas, which are oncology, inflammation, general medicine and rare disease therapeutics, thanks to the company recently acquiring Horizon Therapeutics.
The two West Greenwich manufacturing sites also focus on oncology, inflammation and general medicine. Serving every patient, every time is the company’s overall primary goal, Mancinho says.
“It’s a great privilege that we have to serve patients and the magnitude of the responsibility to deliver for them is not lost on us,” she said. “This continuous improvement mindset that we have, and our drive to do better and be better for … our patients, also makes Amgen a rewarding and fulfilling place to work because we live this mission day in and day out.”
The company improved the run rates and run per lot of each product, which is essentially how much medicine is produced, in order to increase capacity to 150% since 2018. The company has issued several awards to its biomanufacturing plant in Rhode Island.
The company’s current focus is maximizing the potential of its people and capabilities, Mancinho says. The local site, she says, is constantly having to think how it is working day-to-day and being innovative.
“This is something that can change every single day at Amgen,” she said. “We are focused on remaining agile and developing our workforce to respond to those different needs.”
Amgen also has a Women in Manufacturing employee resource group, which has recently worked with other women manufacturing leaders to create the first Women in Manufacturing chapter for the state. The company is also active in various business support groups, including the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce and the Rhode Island Manufacturers Association.
Amgen has also implemented a series of projects to achieve carbon neutrality, reduce water consumption and reduce waste over the next few years, Britson says. It has made progress on all three, which Britson is proud of.
“Innovation spans all segments of our business,” he said.