Blog Posts

Lean Manufacturing in Food, Drug, Cosmetics & Chemical Industry

2/25/2020

Here is a case study that exemplifies improved productivity of pellet manufacturing by 28% per shift via LEAN.

Learn about how to use LEAN Business Process Improvement methodology for
Innovation and Manufacturing …

To learn more about how Shruti can help your organization achieve new heights or to book a Workshop, Contact Dr. Shruti Bhat via Form or WhatsApp

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#Manufacturing #Lean #ContinuousImprovement #Kaizen #QualityImprovement #ManufacturingManagement #Pharmaceutical #LifeSciences #Food #Beverage #Biotechnology #LeanManagement

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737 Max: Debris found in plane's fuel tanks- How can Kaizen help?

2/20/2020

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Boeing's crisis-hit 737 Max jetliner (which was grounded after two fatal crashes) faces a new potential safety issue as debris has been found in the fuel tanks of several new planes which were in storage, awaiting delivery to airlines. (reference: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-51499777)

737 Max debris found in plane fuel tank_ how can Kaizen help

As per media reports, the company also has had recent issues with debris in its other products i.e. 787 Dreamliners and KC-46A military refueling tankers, which led to two suspensions of deliveries of KC-46As to the US air force.

Foreign object debris, an industrial term for rags, tools, metal shavings and other materials left behind by workers during the assembly line aircraft production process, can raise the risk of electrical short-circuiting and fires.

This typically results from poor employee training coupled with near non-existent in-process quality control systems!

A culture of Kaizen helps bigtime in such cases. Kaizen-based installation of quality systems are extremely effective for all types of workplaces be it- production, assembly-line or service functions. Moreover, combining Kaizen with mistake-proofing tools such as Poka Yoke, the product’s quality as well as safety are further augmented.

To learn more about how Shruti can help your organization achieve new heights or to book a Workshop, Contact Dr. Shruti Bhat via Form or WhatsApp

Follow Shruti on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn

#Boeing #737max #kaizen #mistakeproofing

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Continuous Improvement for Human Resources (HR) department via Lean and Kaizen

2/19/2020

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Have you ever been in a situation where there are open positions in your department that haven’t been filled out for one or two years?

On one hand there is mounting workload while on the other hand the response from HR office is that, they are and have been doing their best- they have personally looked out for good candidates, contacted several recruitment companies to get biodata of suitable candidates, yet they haven’t been able to find a correct fit for the open roles.

Many a times supervisors and department heads term such HR responses as ‘excuse’.

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But believe me this is absolutely possible. Despite genuine efforts, recruitment goals are unmet in big and small companies. Recruitment gets more complicated when knowledge workers and people with special skill sets or registration needs are being sought.

Although one can’t completely discount out that there might be a chance where up-to-date efforts may not have been put in by those involved in the recruiting process, but usually HR guys are genuine with their responses. Positions remain unfilled for long times, HR tries hard on their bit, while the department which owns those open positions burn mid night oil by asking existing employees to work overtime to meet quarterly work targets.

If you have such situations in your organizations then your company needs bigtime process improvement in its HR function!

Process improvements in HR departments can impact recruitment goals in many ways.

Let me give you a short case study- Few years ago, I was hired by a Canadian company which dealt with recruitment challenges similar to the ones stated above. Post situational analysis, I recommended them to improve the recruitment process via a combination of Kaizen and Lean Continuous Improvement techniques. We designed a strategic process improvement plan for their recruitment process.

The picture below is self explanatory.

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As you will notice, the process improvement exercise speeded-up filling up of open positions that were stagnating for over 2 years. Process improvement also saved advertising costs, decreased candidate screening time which in turn translated into improved HR productivity. By fifth month of initiating the process change campaign, 18 out of 21 open positions (lying open for over two years) were filled up!

Another place for HR process improvement is- Avoiding ‘firing’ employees by ‘right hiring’.

No one likes to fire employees, even if that person is truly lousy at whatever they do and makes everyone else around them miserable. Much has been written on ways to fire kindly, diplomatically etc., but what is discussed less is- ‘how to avoid (improper) hiring in the first place’.

Almost on autopilot, most HR departments post new job offerings and begin the process of filling a position as soon as that position’s previous occupant departs.

An employee’s departure must be used as an introspection to re-evaluate that role from several perspectives, for example- Do we even need this role? Can we reduce this full-time role to part-time or switch to a contractor or outside vendor? Do we need someone with a different skill set? Is there someone within the organization who can be trained and relocated to a new position? How does this position contribute to achieving our corporate goals for the next three years etc.

And such introspection must be done via strategic design of HR Continuous Improvement plan and its flawless implementation.

I recommend Kaizen, Lean, ISO and CMMI (Capability Maturity Model Integration) for Process Improvements in HR function; though, cost-effective and best results are observed with Lean Kaizen.

#Kaizen #HR #ProcessExcellence #ContinuousImprovement #BusinessProcessManagement #ServiceIndustry #BPM #LeanManagement #KaizenLeaderMasterclass #kaizenInHR

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How to Manage Inventories, Cut Wastages and Rejects in Warehouses? A Lean Six Sigma Case Study

2/12/2020

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how to manage inventories cut wastages and rejects in warehouses _ a lean six sigma case study

Lean Six Sigma case study in a pharmaceutical company

Problem: A Canadian Drug company had huge inventory and also wastages in their warehouse. How to cut down rejects? Is there a scope of reducing procurement expense?

Due Diligence : The procurement process was mapped and it was found that the inventory management process was inefficient. Multiple investigative tools were employed to arrive at root cause(s) of the problem.

Solution: Lean six sigma methodology was employed. A new inventory management process was designed and integrated with SAP- ERP system. A ‘FIFO’ usage and distribution system was introduced and implemented across all locations within the organization.

Roles and responsibilities for continuous implementation of the new inventory management process was assigned to department members. Appropriate training was provided as well as documented.

Result Dashboard:

Decreased % rejects by 200 %
Decreased materials procurement by 150 %
Improved supplier relationship.
Smoother supply chain logistics process
Improved cross-functional team engagement, in turn better productivity.

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Lean Innovation, Hoshin Kanrii and Six Sigma (as DFSS) for Product Design, Development and Manufacture via 3D Printing; a Case Study

2/5/2020

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Lean Innovation, Hoshin Kanrii and Six Sigma (DFSS- design for six sigma) for product design, development and manufacture via 3D Printing (i.e. Additive Manufacturing) Case Study by Dr. Shruti Bhat, gives benefits of applying Hoshin Kanrii, DFSS and Lean Innovation techniques to a drug product design, development and manufacture via 3D Printing.

The study findings however can be extended to product development across other industry verticals.

Some of the benefits of applying continuous improvement methodologies such as Lean, Hoshin Kanrii and Six Sigma to research and product development include-

Application of Hoshin Kanrii and DFSS along with Quality-by-Design (QbD) to product development usually brings novelty in product features, process characteristics and/or product utility, thus favors patenting and generation of additional revenues.
While, Lean Innovation creates products with effective and efficient production and packaging processes, with no scope for ‘rework’ thus, better Operations Management.

The study uses Isosorbide dinitrate (ISDN) as model drug, although other drugs can also be used in this therapeutic platform.

2x3 Factorial Design of Experimentation (DOE) was used to design drug beads. The results were evaluated for regression analysis, Main and interaction effects of parameters, Contrast Column Dispersion effects, Normal Probability Plots, Pareto and Process Capability Analysis.

The drug beads were further used as ‘starter’ seeds to develop MUPS (multi-unit particulate system) anti-angina ‘rate-programmed’ drug product.

The pharmacokinetic- pharmacodynamic (PK-PD) modeling was done using Doebrinska- Welling equation. MUPS were developed using 3D Printing technology via a 12- Run Plackett Burman DOE.

All hardware, software applications involved in the study were pre-validated. All qualifications i.e. Design Qualification (DQ), Installation Qualification (IQ), Operational Qualification (OQ), Performance Qualification (PQ) for each experimental run was done as per USFDA guidelines. Data was analysed statistically using Paired ‘t’ test. Reliability Testing was conducted as per ICH current Good Clinical Practices (cGCP) guidelines.

Product prototype and Reference listed drug (RLD) were compared for bioequivalence compliance. The prototype is ready for commercialization.

This study also gives benefits of using 3D Printing technique for pharmaceuticals and how the technique can be applied to product development across other industry verticals!

For details on how to apply Lean Innovation, Hoshin Kanrii and DFSS to product design, development and manufacture, watch the video …

To learn more about how Shruti can help your organization achieve new heights or to book a Workshop, Contact Dr. Shruti Bhat via Form or WhatsApp

How to Reduce Testing Load of Analytical Labs in R&Ds? A Six Sigma Case Study in a Biotech Company

1/22/2020

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how to reduce testing load of analytical labs in research and development _ a six sigma case study in a biotech company

Six Sigma Case Study in a Biotech company

Problem: A Canadian Biotech company had too many samples for testing in their research lab. How to cut down this analysis load?

Due Diligence: The entire product development process was mapped end-to-end. Possible causes for the problem were identified using RCA. It was found that, there were way too many experiments conducted during product development. For e.g. 85 experiments were conducted to arrive at a base level prototype having minimal features.

Solution: Six Sigma methodology was employed. More of experiment planning was needed during product development. Regardless of type of product or product complexities, the aim was to keep experiments to minimal. Design Thinking and DOE were employed. The development protocol was modified such that final prototype is developed with meager 20 experiments at the maximum. Alongside cutting down analysis load, the process improvement campaign cu down product development time, built-in product quality, and enhanced production output.

Result Dashboard:

Decreased overall development costs by 200 %
Improved R&D’s productivity by 250 %
Prevented recruitment of additional scientific manpower, thereby curtailing business expenses and overheads.

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How to Choose a Business Process Improvement or Continuous Improvement project?

1/16/2020

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A business process improvement project within an organization usually starts out with statements like “We have this problem and we think this is the issue that must be sorted out”. In my experience, 9 times out of 10, the cause of the problem is radically different from what one ‘thinks’ is the issue. Hence, the precursor to choosing a process improvement project is to acknowledge that there is a problem whose root cause(s) must be first be identified before going any further with the process improvement idea.

Once you have an idea of the ‘real’ issue(s) or the ‘root cause(s)’ which must be addressed, you must establish what sort of improvement you are seeking. Because a goal provides the context for determining as well as designing an action plan. For example, the improvement steps to save $1000 via a process improvement campaign are obviously far different from the steps to save $100,000 or $1M - but that’s also the only way you can draw a project's finishing line and establish whether that project was a success.

Also, the journey for reaching goals may vary and the execution plan documents the road map for achieving the goal.

All popular continuous improvement methodologies such as Lean, Six Sigma, Hoshin Kanri, Lean Six Sigma, Kaizen , Kanban etc. incorporate the same focus on setting goals that are easily understood, across an organization.

Remember: Regardless of the Continuous Improvement methodology being employed, the goal must be set before selecting a process improvement project, because a project is largely defined by what it is supposed to accomplish.

You may need multiple process improvement projects to achieve a set of goals or often multiple projects to achieve one single goal. A standard line of action while choosing process improvement goal is based on the study of ‘Variation Journal’.

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Variation Journal as the name implies, is a record of process variation(s) observed throughout the lifetime of a process. Upon scrutinizing this process variation record, any process that elicits a ‘Common Cause’ variation becomes a potential candidate for improvement.

Usual process improvement project pick strategies include- selecting those processes that save maximum money, are easiest or fastest to complete, solve an obnoxious problem, or a process that adversely affects employee working, or where the process improvement is hardest to accomplish (with the idea of 'getting the hard stuff out of the way' will provide serious onward momentum for all subsequent process improvement work).

Tip: Process improvement project success depends on the goal set up, as well as, a sound execution plan before you go about implementing process changes.

In my career as a Global Continuous Improvement Leader spanning a decade, I have found that, using Agile during process change implementation, paves way to guaranteed success with process improvement campaigns.

With Agile management the execution plan becomes a series of sprints instead of one long comprehensive plan.

Tip: Note that Agile works best in environments of frequent changes or development of a new product line, where new features and obstacles are constantly introduced and need to be managed.