Helping to fight Covid-19

When Galway native Bernard Birkett FCCA migrated from Ireland to the US in 2015, it wasn’t only his long experience as an ACCA member that smoothed the transition, but also a deep understanding of different cultures and business practices around the world.

Throughout his career, he explains, being part of a globally integrated company would offer him the opportunity to be exposed to a wide range of business practices and international regulatory regimes, starting with a variety of finance positions at Merit Medical Systems.

Gaining experience

‘I was fortunate that early in my career I was with a company that enabled me to get that experience fairly quickly, looking first at the Irish and European markets from both an operational and commercial perspective,’ says Birkett. ‘As my career progressed and the company started to expand its footprint, I became VP of International Finance, which at that time encompassed all of the BRIC countries.

‘Entering new markets, setting up companies and then supporting them gave me really good insight into international business. Dealing with different cultures, different markets and diverse business practices, and the challenge of leading in different regions and understanding new cultures, have been some of the most rewarding aspects of my career,’ he adds.

US move

After many years of experience as international VP finance, financial controller and group controller for the EMEA region and China, Birkett migrated from Ireland to the US to become CFO of Merit Medical Systems in 2015. For a finance executive, operating in each region presented new challenges, he says, particularly from a regulatory, statutory reporting and external-facing perspective.

‘You have to understand the local requirements, have the correct systems and people in place with local knowledge to make sure the work gets done, and understand how the reporting differences are going to impact your business,’ he says.

Cultural diversity

The other aspect of being a finance leader with multiple country responsibilities is to understand cultural diversity, he adds. ‘We need to understand how businesses function in different countries, regions and a forever-changing world, and how we need to adapt to be successful.’

Ultimately, being successful across borders and cultures will depend on how you treat people, Birkett comments. ‘You have to treat people with respect, and have the ability to listen to and understand their perspective. That goes a long way to managing the business in different environments,’ he says.

Cultural diversity

The other aspect of being a finance leader with multiple country responsibilities is to understand cultural diversity, he adds. ‘We need to understand how businesses function in different countries, regions and a forever-changing world, and how we need to adapt to be successful.’

Ultimately, being successful across borders and cultures will depend on how you treat people, Birkett comments. ‘You have to treat people with respect, and have the ability to listen to and understand their perspective. That goes a long way to managing the business in different environments,’ he says.

Covid-19 challenges

In 2018 Birkett moved to take the finance helm as senior vice president/CFO of West Pharmaceutical Services, one of the US’s leading global manufacturers, and one that would prove to be among the most critical producers in the world during the Covid-19 crisis.

Based in Pennsylvania, West Pharmaceutical Services is a manufacturer of integrated containment and delivery systems for injectable medicines, including containment and delivery systems. It is also a custom manufacturer of injection mouldings, and performs contract assembly and finished packaging from eight locations throughout North America and Europe.

Unique position

As CFO of West, Birkett is in an unusual position during the pandemic in that he’s mainly concerned about meeting spikes in demand and getting the product to market, and ultimately to the patients served by the company’s customers.

‘We’re in a pretty unique situation right now as, unlike many companies, our business is actually growing. West is working very closely with the many of the companies developing vaccines in response to Covid-19,’ he explains, which has put his focus on capacity planning.

‘Some of the challenges facing myself and the leadership team are to make sure we are supporting our teams effectively given the many difficulties faced in a rapidly changing work environment,’ he says. ‘Can we meet the expected demand, will we have the right equipment, what do we have to acquire, when and where do we have to put it?’

Supply and logistics

At the same time, there are concerns around supply chain and logistics. ‘Together with the leadership team, as CFO I have to think about freight capacity, now that we don’t have as many airline flights. And do we have the right inventory levels of raw materials? I consider how we communicate with our customers about their needs, and whether we can meet the needs of the market within the appropriate time-frame.

‘Ultimately, my role as CFO is to help figure out how the business will function in the future compared to before the pandemic.’

New ways of working

West was an early innovator when it came to responding to the Covid crisis. In January the company formed a cross-functional, cross-regional crisis management team to address the logistical challenges and operational aspects of maintaining production.

‘We have two plants in China, one in Singapore and one in India,’ Birkett explains, ‘so we were already working in January 2020. We had our supply chain and the critical components secured in February. We had stopped people travelling internationally and domestically by the end of February and stopped any internal or external visitors to our plants at the same time.’

Essential operation

All 25 plants of its plants are fully operational, although the only people in the plants are essential team members doing the actual production work.

‘Our business is critical in normal times,’ says Birkett, ‘and it’s even more so now. That’s why we talk about culture a lot – team members have to understand the meaning and purpose of their work. That’s incumbent on not just the CEO or head of operations, but every leader within a business. And the CFO has to realise that understanding culture and communication is a big part of their role.’

To this end, understanding history is also instrumental, Birkett explains. ‘I’ve always taken a step back to try to understand how cultures have evolved and why things are the way they are. Once you understand that, it helps you understand why people do what they do. At the very least, you’ve got to put yourself in the other person’s position and try to see things through their eyes.’