It will last until they spend the next $40 million at least. Remember to delete your e-mails!

at least 6 more days

How long do you suppose the Roche blood glucose strip manufacturing business will remain in Indy?

"Downward spiral" needs to replaced with "Death Spiral" as a descripter of what is happening with Roche Diagnostics, Indy.

From the posts here it seems like "Mindless Twit" might be an understatement. The whole situation is really too bad for RCD. Especially with the problems Siemens is having with Vista, if they had their act together they could have positioned themselves to gain a great deal of market share. Opportunity blown. 'Nuff said. Wake up you sleeping idiots in Basel and smell the coffee!

Hey, I worked about 12 years as a field service engineer for Boehringer-Mannheim before Roche bought them out and am residing in San Diego area now and looking for employment. I know I can fix your problem and won't leave until it is fixed because that's what I have done for 27 years as a field service engineer. we're not all retired or can be in this economy. If interested you can reach me at 760-295-4128 or 760-468-1258.

LS is another significant loss for Roche and will be greatly missed after 21 years of dedicated service. I am truly sorry to hear of her departure.

LS was the VP of RAS (Roche Applied Science) in Indy. She was a dedicated and hard worker. Story is that she got tired of MT's abusive, rude and disrespectful behavior. Sales are severely down most likely due to the economy, so MT was putting unreasonable pressure on her.

Well, I guess MT will now bring in one of his lakeys from the far east.

Ladies and Gentlemen of RDC, GET OUT WHILE YOU CAN!!!!

LS, head of industrial business, and WC, western area sales director for lab business. What's the body count?

Who is LS? Is this person in the service or sales? Service is supposed to announce wide changes by the end of June.

LS' decision to "seek opportunities outside of Roche" was unceremoniuosly announced in email.

Who?

Another one bit the dust today at Roche. Nice work, Mikey.

Why were the references to the M.T. Mindless Twit campaign removed? The only person that would want that posting removed would be M.T. himself. Hitting a sensitive nerve for the Mindless Twit brings great delight to many Roche employees. Power to the M.T. Mindless Twit campaign!

Novartis will not acquire Roche. The cultures are too different. Novartis is run by MD's, who focus on the patient. Roche is a "bank with a chemistry set", their only focus is squeezing out the last bit of profit. That why all the top execs are either finance people or lawyer's at Roche.

Sales are way down and MT even admitted that his number was unrealistic. Novartis is still knocking at the door and now would be a good time to spin off the diagnostic part and get some much needed cash after the Genetech deal.

who is counting the number of reorgs? if MT is so smart, why so many reorgs? why couldn't he get it right the first, second, third, fourth, fifth or sixth time? oh yeah... he isn't that smart, just arrogant. glad my resume is up to date.

The reorg is coming no later than July. The reorg is a certainty. Theoretically, no people will be let go, but the reality is that they will be told "this is your new job, take it or leave it". 400 or so positions will be impacted.

It is good to hear that the mindless leadership in my division actually does come from a legitimate influence. I was starting to think these people were idiots on their own. Time for a new job.

Any truth to the rumors or a reorg the end of this month? I hear that the service reorg will be announced shortly.

See the threads regarding Diabetes Care from May 27th and later on this topic. Pretty much tells it like it is with objectivity.

Can someone comment on the sustainability of the Roche blood glucose strip development and manufacturing in Indy? I am nervous about how long this business will be around. Should I be?

I'm an Accu-Chek customer. Why do you ask?

True - Actually Thermo Fisher formally Seradyn is closing in 2010. I used to work at Roche, now here. Left Roche becaue of all the unethical crap they didn't get caught with a couple of years ago. Several former Roche people here to.

Anyone here an Accu-Check customer?

Saw in the news today that another life sciences employer in Indy- Seradyne is closing.

Broaden you job search well beyond Indy. The largest medical device player in town (Roche) is in rapid decline mode. Lilly is not expanding. Quite a number of the venture projects in the Indy/Purdue corridor are losing their venture capital and closing or laying off (eg. Quadraspec, among others).

My only counsel is, don;t count on being able to stay in Indy. Although this is a great town to live in, the job prospects for Pharm/Dia are dismal comapred to other parts of the country.

A little too much of the Roche Blue Kool Aid by the last caller. The Roche Diagnostics quality systems are overly complex, the engineering teams are super frustrated due to lack of leadership and competency from the management and executive teams, and the DC business could be better run by a Junior Achievement class. How much overhead can you pump into a business? Ask the Roche DC managers (not leaders). The quality of the product Roche is making on the DC side is very poor, and the Accu-Check products are in a decline with no competitive featurs to stay ahead of the game. There is no pipeline for the blood glucose meters or strips, so if you work at Roche DC, just hold on until a severance is offered or you get lucky and get a job at Lilly.

You people obviously dont know what your talking about. It is industry standard for auditors to be escorted through the buildings. Everyone does it hell its even done with internal auditors. It doesnt meant anyone is trying to cover anything up its just how things are done. The FDA knows it and expects it, ISO auditors know it and expect it. You all just want to stir everyone up but you obviously dont work in Quality or Regulatory.

And you know as for everyone talking about how bad Roche is etc. blah blah! You are an adult and you are free to work for whoever you want to try and work for. No one forces you to come to work everyday but if you choose to do so then do your job, earn your pay and spend a little more time worrying about yourself instead of what everyone else is doing. Its easy to blame someone else for whatever the problems are but it isnt so easy to look in the mirror is it?

Grow up.....

Wow, it has been a while since I checked this thread. It is sad how bad things have gotten at Roche. I used to be quite proud to work there, but I am equally glad to have left when I could. Good luck to everyone who is still there, hopefully the storm will pass soon.

The place is a joke. There is a reason why the auditors are escorted around everywhere. The directors know that if auditors ask any questions to the people who really know what is going on, the place would get shut down in an instant.

What are you smoking? DIA numbers are not where they need to be. In the US, it's even worse! RAS will miss plan by miles, RPD will be close but not quite. DC will probably make plan, but not much over. It will be another year of no profit sharing for folks. Although the fat cats like KK, MT, JS will still get their bonuses.

Thanks for the pep talk, MT, nicely done.

despite having challenges in the customer support and service department, it remains a strong company and way ahead of its peers in R&D and worldwide market reach. 2009 is Roche's year by all means and the numbers will surprise the skepticals.

Funny, but not as funny as some of the engineers in the field. Especially the ones who can't use a meter or troubleshoot by shot gunning everything, then tossing their hands up and and crying for help. Whatever happened to good old fashioned troubleshooters? You know, the ones who actually use common sense and work through a problem, instead of whining all the time. These are some of the same people who should have been fired a long time ago, but instead, somehow find a way to survive in a position they do not deserve.

I love the escalations, "I have thrown everything at the problem, but still can't fix it..."

Well, I guess that just goes to show, you can't fix stupid.

REPLY: Most of us that can troubleshoot have left or retired.

Keep in mind that the torpedos that hit Indy and have led to it's demise occurred under SS's watch (nearly 3 years), and the draconian measures that JS and MT are taking are only because they were left with a ship that was already sinking. Unfortunately there is too much balast and the captain's last ditch efforts are not going to change where Indy lands.

I don't believe that SS is dismayed with JS and MT's approach. He has the power to make BIG changes and his silence and lack of decisive action (AKA fire the jerks) is a resounding endorsement of the approach they are taking. Wait till the FDA comes crashing down on Indy. Then SS will have wished he had the guts to do the right thing when he is on the firing line with Federal regulators. SS you are accountable not only in a business sense but in a moral sense. When you have the power to stop evil activity, and yet stand by and watch it unfold, shame on you! SS, you are a MAJOR part of the problem.

Not that simple: Basel was/is unhappy with Indy performance, but SS is dismayed at JS's, MT's approach. That's the truth. As for MT, a bit premature to compare him to Welch, don't you think? First, MT will have to lead (vs mismanage) more than what is a rounding error in the GE world. $1.5B is peanuts to GE. They are investing $6B in healthcare to drive organic growth vs. our must acquire mature technology to fill gaps to make up for our unproductive R&D...

- from Basel...

Jack Welch was know as "Neutron Jack" (like the bomb). I don't know MT's management capabilities, but with a mission from Basel to fix the place (Indy) he is not going to win any popularity contests.

Put your self in Basel's place. This place (Indy) is a mess. The list of leadership, product, compliance, and financial failings is legendary in the halls of Basel. MT is in the US to do the dirty work for JS and SS, and there is no way to sugar coat what is going on.

Jack Welch was know as "Neutron Jack" (like the bomb). I don't know MT's management capabilities, but with a mission from Basel to fix the place (Indy) he is not going to win any popularity contests.

Put your self in Basel's place. This place (Indy) is a mess. The list of leadership, product, compliance, and financial failings is legendary in the halls of Basel. MT is in the US to do the dirty work for JS and SS, and there is no way to sugar coat what is going on.

MT in the same breath as Jack Welch? Welch was at least effective! The only way you can effectively use MT and Jack Welch in the same sentence is to say that "MT is qualified to pick toe jam from Jack's foot".

MT is the swiss version of Hatchet Jack Welch. When is he going to sweep the old BMC guard out the door? They're behaving more psychotic than usual. MT - Get the reorg done so you can move on to your next conquest.

Funny, but not as funny as some of the engineers in the field. Especially the ones who can't use a meter or troubleshoot by shot gunning everything, then tossing their hands up and and crying for help. Whatever happened to good old fashioned troubleshooters? You know, the ones who actually use common sense and work through a problem, instead of whining all the time. These are some of the same people who should have been fired a long time ago, but instead, somehow find a way to survive in a position they do not deserve.

I love the escalations, "I have thrown everything at the problem, but still can't fix it..."

Well, I guess that just goes to show, you can't fix stupid.

Roche Indy's engineering group is a laughable crowd. If you have a job offer with these clowns, I hope don't mind seeing a bunch of people wearing big red noses to wear to work every day.

I heard that the managers are called to Indy next week for a meeting and another reorg is due to be announced the week after with lots of job cuts. Also, training is going to be done in the field and not Indy unless the customer specifically requests it. Sounds like they are going to shut Indy down for a fire sale.

Heard MT is having a hard time filling the CD VP of sales role. What did you expect MT? Even in this bad economy employees and recruiters know Roche is NOT the place to work because of the culture of fear that MT has created. When the economy turns around, MT will have to run every function because no one will work for that incompetent fool! Stay away from that CD VP of sales job. It is a death trap!

Sounds like Roche Diabetes Care in Indy is going to be sold off or the product will eventually bottom out on its life cycle. How much innovation can be incorporated into a blood glucose strip or meter to keep Roche competitive? From what I understand, the Indy operations spends tons of dollars that are completely mismanaged. I am going to steer clear.

If you look at the average sales price for Aviva strips and the current manufacturing costs, there is an attractive gross margin on the strips. However, when you consider the R&D investment made, building two manufacturing plants (Puerto Rico and Indy), and the on-going Overhead to support the product line, there is no way these costs will ever be paid off. The fixed investment costs were in the $250M + range. Net effect is a loss to Roche on an investment made in Diabetes in Indianapolis in an commodity market, and an a site (Indy) that continues to grossly dissapoint Basel.

See where this is going?

If you have other job opportunites, pass on Roche Indy. I'm trying to get out as fast as I can.

Your comments on the Aviva product are intriguing. Isn't that a very profitable product for Roche? But, I am not sure how sustainable of a product it will be for reasons to which you have alluded. The Aviva product is a commodity and does not offer features to the consumer that differentiate it from a lower cost competitor. How long will this house of cards last? How is the business and manufacturing operation being managed in Indy? Is it a viable place to seek employment?