In November 2025, I was invited to give a presentation on the history of quality at the Pfizer Portage site (formerly The Upjohn Company). This presentation was part of the site Quality and Integrity Week. The presentation was in the large conference room in Building 259.  Justine McKenzie was my sponsor and escort. This was the first time I had been on the Portage site since before the pandemic.

I entered the site through the Building 41 Lobby and was immediately impressed. The lobby has been completely renovated and looked like one in a top hotel. I had completed check-in by email so I met Justine there and the guard simply handed me my visitor badge. Super simple.

We first walked to the B41 cafeteria and Justine bought me a lunch, which was to be eaten after the presentation (thank you Justine). I noted there was no cashier like there was in my day. Ordering is now done at the actual lunch counters using a large touch screen and paying electronically right there.

We walked the length of the B41 basement corridor to Building 259. It looked the same as it has for 75 years. I pointed out the room where the barbershop used to be and then felt a bit embarrassed to be talking about something that had been gone for forty years. The snack bars in the basement looked the same as they did when I retired in 2017.

Another good surprise was the Building 259 large conference room had been completely refurbished recently. It looked really nice. New technology had been added so presentations given there could also be experienced in remote conference rooms. An a/v technician was on hand. Many of my friends and co-workers still at Pfizer showed up and it was wonderful to see their faces again. I covered the quality journey from when The Upjohn Pill & Granule Company opened in 1886 up to the 1990s. Here’s a link to my presentation in pdf format and below is my final slide.

After I had finished describing the journey of quality from 1886 to the 1990s, Site Leader Carlos Vergara talked about the future. I was impressed that the Portage site is part of a manufacturing network within Pfizer that regularly shares new and improved practices. That’s a big win for everyone. An eye-opening example from this manufacturing network was one European site is using Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the vision system used on aseptic filling lines! I’m thinking once AI gets a proverbial foot in the pharmaceutical manufacturing door, people will find a lot of applications for it. Carlos covered other plans and priorities for the future.

Bottom line – I was very impressed with what I saw of the Pfizer manufacturing site in Portage. I’m the history guy. I’m all about the past but businesses cannot live in the past. They not only have to live in the present but be constantly re-inventing themselves to thrive in the future. Pfizer is doing that in Portage.  

I’d like to thank Justine McKenzie for bringing me on-site and spending the time to be my escort.

Jeremy Winkworth.