Many pharmaceutical manufacturers are considering Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma, two reputable management approaches, to transform manufacturing operations and to boost quality. These methodologies have positively changed other industries like the electronics and automotive businesses.
Lean manufacturing concentrates on getting rid of waste, with the intention of influencing manufacturers to be more open to customer demands and market changes.
Six Sigma is an approach that deals with business processes and works on minimizing product and process variation with the intention of reducing product defects.
According to the methodology, one standard deviation from the mean is one sigma; thus, manufacturers who operate at (+ or -)6 sigma are doing so at 99.9997% compliance.
Pharmaceutical manufacturers who put Lean and Six Sigma approaches into practice possess a strong method to help them improve quality, compliance, productivity, costs, and speed, resulting in them offering better products to the market in a faster and more cost-effective way.
In order to move to a Lean Six Sigma environment, companies have to center on change at three levels:
1. Operating systems
2. Management systems
3. Mindsets and behaviors
1. Operating systems
At the level of operating systems, manufacturers have to comprehend demand levels, must design lean production systems around material and information flow analysis, should create tactical implementation plans, and must develop consistent work charts and instructions.
2. Management systems
Management systems have to be assessed at various different levels, and pharma companies must direct changes that back the Lean models.
The transition team has to identify what management tools, IT systems and communication means included are necessary for the company to change.
Another important thing the company must consider is how it will define or determine success by establishing Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) at diverse levels of production, and it is also crucial to create a highly visible problem solution system to guide and institutionalize change.
All of these capabilities have to be put into practice and scaled so that they reach over the whole value chain. This value chain is in many cases overwhelmingly complex and can go beyond traditional organizational limits.
3. Mindsets and behaviors
The most difficult part of change for the majority of pharma companies is the transformation of mindsets and behaviors.
People normally fear change, and thus, resist it strongly; and when talking about the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry, which until not so long ago, flourished in spite of its focus on preserving the status quo, this is a truth that is set in stone.
When moving to a Lean Six Sigma environment, the management team has to identify and communicate a coherent mission, vision, and value system all through the organization, never losing focus on the customer.
The transition team has to center on achieving top-down acceptance by lining up resources to help build and convey momentum across the company.
Last but not least, pharmaceutical consulting firms agree that training is a must. There must be an ample strategy that offers training opportunities at different points during the transition as a way to gain higher acceptance and expertise both from management and other staff.
The market has demanded life sciences consulting, pharmaceutical consultant, pharmaceutical consultants are joining forces to make them happen.If you liked this article, tell all your friends about it. They'll thank you for it. If you have a blog or website, you can link to it or even post it to your own site but do not forget to mention our Pharmaceutical Consultancy blog as the original source.
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